Namcor wants more fuel facilities

THE National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) wants to have three additional bulk fuel storage facilities at Ondangwa, Gobabis and in Windhoek, and is now looking for someone to construct and finance them.

Last Friday, the state-owned and loss-making corporation’s procurement management unit put out an expression of interest for prospective companies and investors for the construction, financing, commissioning, operating and maintenance of a bulk fuel storage facility.

Namcor managing director Immanuel Mulunga said the corporation plans on constructing three inland depots to hold between three million and five million litres each.

“We are looking for someone to finance and build the facilities within three years for us and to operate them. The operation of these depots by the investor will obviously be on a longer term than three years. Namcor will probably be one of the users of the depots and also allow other interested parties to use the others,” he said.

“The overall objective of the project is to procure an investor with the required technical and financial capabilities and experienced team to build, operate and transfer bulk fuel storage facilities to Namcor within the next three years.”

The tender documents will be available electronically from 9 December 2021.

Mulunga said the inland depots will be supplied by the bulk oil storage at the coast.

In March this year, Namcor took charge of the multibillion-dollar national oil storage facility the government built at Walvis Bay.

The facility, whose construction commenced in January 2015, consists of a tanker jetty, multiple product pipelines and a terminal consisting of seven tanks with a capacity of 75 million litres.

This facility was designed and constructed as a strategic storage facility with the primary aim of increasing Namibia’s fuel supply security from seven to 10 days, to 30 to 45 days, in situations where the country is unable to import petroleum products into the country.

Namcor has also gone into partnerships with more than 10 companies, including those of politically connected individuals, to build 33 fuel service stations across the country, by 2024.

Localities with current Namcor filling station partnerships include Windhoek, Ongwediva, Mariental, Outapi, Karasburg, Khorixas, Oshakati, Otjiwarongo and Otavi.

Among the beneficiaries of the arrangement are former Namibia University of Science and Technology vice chancellor Tjama Tjivikua, businessman Peter ‘Kanu’ Amadhila, former footballer-turned-oil dealer Dan-Boy Njadila, and Roads Authority senior engineer Lazarus Kunugab.

Also included are businesspersons Ashipala Uushona, Arno Diberti, Vinod Kumar, and Craig Thompson.

Namcor, however, faced criticism over how it picked its partners, but Mulunga insisted in April there was nothing sinister about the agreements.

“Dealer recruiting and selection processes within Namcor are transparent, and we follow the same procedures used by world-class organisations. In instances where Namcor owns the land and the facility, we publicly advertise dealer opportunities,” he said.

Individual service stations allegedly cost anything from N$6 million to more than N$30 million to set up.

The state-owned entity says it plans to invest N$100 million to reach a target of establishing 18 service stations in the current financial year.

– matthew@namibian.com.na