…As Govt place Indeni on care and maintenance
BY SIMON MUNTEMBA
THE announcement by Government that it has begun the process of reforming the petroleum subsector to increase security of supply of the products in Zambia is long overdue, but proper measures must be put in place to ensure transparency, Petroleum Transporters Association of Zambia (PTAZ) has said.
And Government has decided to put Indeni Petroleum on care and maintenance which would result in adding fewer employees wording at Indeni, while others shall be reassigned to manage fuel storage depots, a move which many energy experts have recently warned against . In an interview, association Secretary General Benson Tembo said much as they welcomed the announced reforms, it was their hope that the local transporters would be given priority when transporting the pumping of low Sulphur Gasoil through TAZAMA pipelines.
“We welcome the reforms, but we hope the minimal volume products that will be transported on roads should benefit the local transporters who have been sidelined in preference for foreign transporters in the past,” he said. His remarks follow announcement by Minister of Energy Peter Kapala that Government had begun the process of reforming the petroleum subsector.
In a statement, Mr Kapala said the reforms resonated with the UPND manifesto where they promised to restructure the fuel supply chain so as to achieve least cost pricing while ensuring stable supply of petroleum products.
The minister explained that products such as petrol, Jet A1, Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), kerosene and heavy fuel oil will be transported via road as they would no longer be produced by the refinery. He said the reforms were aimed at ensuring that there was adequate, reliable and affordable supply of the premium products in the country.
“As you may be aware the sector is marred with a lot of inefficiencies which have increased costs of various petroleum products. The overall objective of the reforms will be to increase security of supply of petroleum products in the country,” he said. He said Government has begun to look at modalities that would reduce the cost for transporting petroleum products and improve efficiency in delivering of petroleum products. The Government intends to implement under transportation the pumping of low Sulphur Gasoil (LSG-Diesel) through TAZAMA pipelines as one of the reforms.
