With a vision to help stabilize and ensure adequate petroleum supplies in the country for quite a while, the Executive Chairman of the Petroleum Regulatory Agency, Brima Baluwa Koroma, commissioned Conex Energy’s two tank farms at the Conex Kissy Terminal in Freetown.
One of those tank farms is meant for Petrol, while the other one is equally meant for Diesel, with each of those tank farms carrying 15,000 metric tons, making it a total of 30,000 metric tons of fuel. The unprecedented symbolic commissioning of the biggest and tallest tanks in the Downstream Petroleum Sector not only served as a tremendous effort to help boost the industry, but it also served as a means to aid the government in maintaining its strategic storage capacity.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, the Managing Director of Conex Energy, Mr. Avrajit Kar, said their company started with unresolved challenges in 2021, shortly after they succeeded Total Energy. He noted that from 2021 to date, they’ve forty-one (41) retail outlets across the country thereby increasing the investment strength and visibility of their company. The Managing Director further disclosed that Conex Energy is currently operating in ten (10) countries in Africa, and Sierra Leone happens to be one of their operating countries; adding that they are in the business to compete with other determined companies and also to make the Downstream Sector become very attractive and resourceful to the state, especially in augmenting revenue generation for the government.
Congratulating the management of Conex Energy team for their impressive landmark investment in the construction of the 30,000 metric tons tank farms, the Executive Chairman of Petroleum Regulatory Agency, Mr. Brima Baluwa Koroma, noted that in 2018, His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio set aside three specific policy objectives: taking robust leadership drive in opening up the market space, restoring fairness in the industry for all operators that will increase sector efficiency and transparency, noting that focusing on initiatives that will develop the petroleum industry infrastructure storage, additional terminals and maintaining government strategic stock. Chairman Baluwa further stated that the Agency’s compliance with the petroleum laws and tax commitments is being fully regulated within the sector for the greater benefit of all Sierra Leoneans.
“This government came in at a time when the sector was in desperate need of reforms, as unresolved challenges continued to impact the sector with weak investor appetite. This sector was constellated with weak infrastructure, frequent supply disruption and declined government revenue. Both ironical and complex, the challenges faced by our downstream industry seemed to be disproportionate to its vast potential, we deliberately confronted some of those problems, and today, the industry is now expanding and evolving” Baluwa Koroma said.
The Executive Chairman of PRA highlighted the revenue strength of the Agency thus far, explaining that revenue has jumped by almost 128% from Le, 473bn in 2018 to Le,1.2 trillion in 2023, noting that petroleum importation grew by 52.00% from 345 thousand metric tons in 2018 to 525 thousand metric tons in 2023, with annual sales and distribution record of 524 million litres in the same year, a whole Jump of 28% from 409 million litres in 2018, and this is projected to grow by 22% by 2027.
In the capacity of supervisory minister, the Honourable Minister of Trade and Industry, Ibrahim Alpha Sesay, commended the board and management of Conex Energy for their extraordinary dedication and commitment to boosting the petroleum industry. He said the government has directed the Agency to profoundly focus on initiatives that will develop the industry infrastructure, particularly storage, additional terminals and maintaining government strategic stock. The Honourable Minister of Trade and Industry added that the national target for petroleum storage is 500,000 metric tons including regional tank farms, indicating that the additional tank farms by Conex Energy will now take the total storage to about 215,000 metric tons, and this will not only improve on the national petroleum storage capacity; but will also enhance the fuel replenishment period that was previously averaging 2-3 weeks. Honourable Ibrahim Alpha Sesay said petroleum products all over the world are a major factor in international and domestic politics, and socioeconomic development; noting that these characteristics of the petroleum sector largely explain why many producing and importing countries have, at some point in history, opted homegrown solution and private sector participation.
