Moratorium on bulk fuel lifted

The mines and energy ministry lifted the moratorium on the issuance of new licenses for fuel wholesale trading on Friday.In a statement issued last week, the ministry announced that the ban, which has been in effect since 15 August 2022, will be lifted on 16 August.The ministry explained that the ban was put in place to allow the ministry to improve its licensing system.Eligible companies can now reapply to import and export fuel in bulk, according to the spokesperson for the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor), Paulo Coelho.“However, it’s not as easy as people might think. Companies will need to prove that they have the capacity and infrastructure to do so,” he said.Namcor is responsible for the national fuel storage facilities along the coast, and the system works well to ensure that the country always has at least 30 days of fuel reserves, Coelho said.Opportunities The ministry&#039;s statement also explicitly stated that the ban on building new fuel stations remains in place.“The reason is that there is evidence that the average demand for fuel has not increased, indicating that the issuance of new retail licenses could potentially negatively impact the viability of existing stations.“The ministry will continue to evaluate the fuel market with the intention of reviewing this moratorium,” the statement reads.Nevertheless, there are still opportunities to purchase a fuel station if one wishes to do so.The merger of Vivo Energy (Shell) and Engen earlier this year specifically prompted the Namibian Competition Commission (NaCC) to order that the new company must sell some of its stations.Two months ago, it was reported that nearly 60 stations belonging to oil and fuel giants Shell and Engen are available for purchase. The opportunity to buy 58 of these stations was advertised on May 21.Claim dismissedAnother alleged opportunity is to buy Namcor fuel stations, following Cabinet’s expressed dissatisfaction with the non-profit nature of this branch of Namcor’s business.However, Coelho has denied this claim. “While we are evaluating the current position, we remain fully committed to maintaining our commercial and retail operations,” he said upon enquiry.Coelho said the final order to sell immediately has not yet been issued by Cabinet.He acknowledged, however: “We are currently in the process of reevaluating our downstream operating model. This reevaluation is a core component of our broader turnaround strategy.“We aim to streamline our operations and align our activities with our national mandate and the exciting developments in the upstream sector, including recent oil discoveries."– augetto@nmh-hub.com.na

Moratorium on bulk fuel lifted

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-04

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Moratorium on bulk fuel lifted

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-04

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