The Council of Minister has approved the launch of the merger between the Ethiopian Petroleum Enterprise and the National Petroleum Depot Administration to form the new Ethiopian Petroleum Supplier Enterprise.
The merger will not affect the job description of the two enterprises but will allow for more coordination amongst them and an efficient use of resources according to sources.
The current board of the EPE, which consists of several high ranking government officials including Tekewold Atnafu (Governor of the National Bank), Alemayehu Tegenu (Minister of Water and Energy), Sufian Ahmed (Minister of Finance and Economic Development) is likely to continue as it is.
The initial proposal has aimed to include petroleum exploration which is currently being administered by the Ministry of Mines according to the source.The EPE was established in 1995 to meet the national demand for petroleum, with the exception of bitumen products, liquefied gas and other lubricants through international competitive bids. The company imported 1.9 million metric tons of petroleum valued at 26.8 billion birr in the last fiscal year only.
The NPDA set up in 1997 is an institution responsible for the oversight of national petroleum reserves and to ensure a regular supply in the case of shortage. The enterprise is mandated to maintain national petroleum reserves at a three month minimum of supply as well as overseeing the quality of stored petroleum. The Enterprise received a budget of 26.5 million birr from the government for the construction and maintenance of depots in the current financial year.
Source: Addis Fortune
