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Africa Moyo-Deputy News Editor
Zimbabwe has constructed strategic oil infrastructure to ensure continued availability of fuel at affordable prices, Energy and Power Development Minister Zhemu Soda said this week.
Speaking at the National Oil Infrastructure Company of Zimbabwe (NOIC) annual general meeting held in Harare on Wednesday, he said: “NOIC, being a strategic asset that is responsible for the availability of fuel and in the future, other sources of energy such as liquefied petroleum gas, I am glad to highlight that the company has put strategies to avert shortages as well as stabilise prices in the market through the construction of strategic infrastructure.”
NOIC is undertaking projects that are critical to the performance of the economy and the achievement of the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), and ultimately of Vision 2030, of an empowered and prosperous upper middle-income economy.
Some of the projects include the construction of the major ethanol storage facility with two 3 000 cubic metre tanks at Mabvuku. This is now complete and awaiting commissioning. The facility holds a total of six million litres of ethanol.
The storage plant is already being used to store ethanol for blending.
Said Minister Soda: “This is a good development and we expect that, going forward, the storage facility will be efficiently used to achieve economies of scale and reduce the nation’s import bill.”
NOIC is also constructing a 2 000 tonnes liquid petroleum gas facility in Ruwa through a phased approach, with the first phase of 500 tonnes progressing well despite initial challenges of access to foreign currency to procure accessories for the project and Covid-19 restrictions.
The upgrade of the Feruka pipeline’s capacity is also progressing well, said Minister Soda, adding that once completed, it would increase revenue flows and uptake by the export market which has reportedly improved significantly.
“Let me take this opportunity to commend NOIC for the sterling job and urge the company to make certain that the projects are well managed to completion,” he said.
“The projects are commendable in view of the Ministry’s strategic thrust and implementation of the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) of the nation. I wish to reiterate that the Ministry will continue to support the projects to their completion.
“I am pleased to note that the company is actively involved in the communities that it operates in. The programmes undertaken are noteworthy and reflects humanity within the board, management and staff.”
Minister Soda said a decision was taken to merge Genesis Energy and Petrotrade, so as to consolidate the participation of Government in the fuel retail sector.
He said the Government needed to have significant control of the market to have the muscle to determine the fundamentals and to ensure the nation was “not left to the whims of the independent players in such a critical sector”.
Implementation of the merger decision is in progress and the process should be completed within the expected timelines.
NOIC declared dividend of just over $659 million after a sterling performance despite some economic challenges and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic during the financial year 2020.
Minister Soda said as the shareholder, Government was pleased to note the commitment of the board, management and staff to achieving success.
“I am confident that your collaborative efforts will continue to place the company in good standing to achieve high performance. The outlook is positive,” he said.
Online Reporter