Lack of Petroleum Distribution Infrastructure can Slow African Growth Prospects

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Release

The risk of African economic growth being constrained by a lack of efficient and safe distribution of petroleum products was highlighted by all speakers at the inaugural Storage & Distribution Forum organized by the African Refiners Association (ARA) in Abidjan the 18/19^th November 2014.

The Forum concluded that:

There needed to be a regional, rather than country-by-country, approach to fuel distribution and product specifications in order to avoid high distribution costs to African states, particularly to land-locked countries.

The standard of health, safety and environmental operations needs to be upgraded and enforced in order to assure safe operation throughout the oil product supply chain from bulk storage to the petrol pump.

The need to encourage efficient rail distribution for oil products was stressed, alongside new product pipelines where safety and economic thresholds can be met, in order to reduce deaths from road traffic accidents.

A thorough review of skills gaps in the distribution industry workforce is vital, for both management and operators, in order to establish robust training programmes to change the culture of the industry towards both efficiency and safety.

These topics will now be taken up by the ARA’s Storage & Distribution Work Group in order to work towards recommending African best practice for safe, efficient, economic and sustainable petroleum product distribution. Mr Joel Dervain, the ARA’s Executive Secretary said “the enthusiasm for improvement was over-whelming across all delegates at the Forum, and having all stakeholders present from government regulators to storage, distribution and marketing companies, meant that our expectations are high for our industry to help, rather than hinder, Africa’s continuing economic growth.”

The Forum was opened by the Côte d’Ivoire Minister of Energy and Petroleum, H.E. Adama Toungara, and the President of the ARA, Pierre Ndiaye Reteno, who congratulated the ARA on gathering under one roof the representatives of governments, energy regulators, African and international professionals to discuss the challenges of the petroleum storage and distribution sector. Speakers included African marketing companies Vivo Energy (Shell), Total, Engen, Puma Energy, OiLibya, Oando, Sonabhy, VTTI (Lagos), Petroci, as well as government regulators NPA (Ghana) and EWURA (Tanzania), industry contractors Parlym and Authentix, and African downstream energy consultants CITAC Africa Ltd.

The future of African petroleum product supply chains will be discussed again during ARA WEEK in Cape Town, South Africa to be held 16-20^th March 2015 link, and planning has already started for the 2^nd ARA Storage & Distribution Forum to be held later next year.

« GO BACK

Petroleum Africa

Lack of Petroleum Distribution Infrastructure can Slow African Growth Prospects

Petroleum Africa On-The-Go

Lack of Petroleum Distribution Infrastructure can Slow African Growth Prospects

You may also like

ReconAfrica Updates Activity on Upcoming Namibia Drilling Program

SDX Disposes of West Gharib Asset in Egypt

Cassino On The Internet Brasil Jogos Para Cassino Com Dinheiro Rea

Botala Increases Stake in Botswana’s Serowe CBM Project

Petrofac Awarded Technical Services Contract by GEPetrol

Zakłady Sportowe I Najnowsze Wiadomości O Bukmacherac

Uganda Signs its Fourth CPF with International Atomic Authority

EcoFlow Introduces Loadshedding Technology to South Africa

Petroleum Africa On-The-Go