Two new petroleum supply companies have joined the market, pushing the total number of operational fuel companies in the country to 13.
Genet Petroleum and Gomechu Petroleum are the two late entrants into the market, having fulfilled the Ministry of Trade requirements to construct a 500,000 litre depot, and having a minimum of six filling stations before obtaining a license to operate as a petrol retailer.
“The two companies secured licenses from the Ministry of Trade (MoT) two years ago and become operational recently,” said Shimelis Arega, public relations officer at the Ministry.
Gomechu Petroleum is owned by Petros Yeshiwasew, and has an authorized capital of 10.7 million Br. It is currently operating 22 filling stations across the country. Gomechu Petroleum’s headquarters are located in Gonder.
The other company, Genet Petroleum, is owned by Genet Aregawi and registered an authorized capital of 5.3 million Br. It is currently operating with 16 filling stations, and is headquartered in Addis Abeba.
With the addition of these two companies, the number of oil distributing companies in the country has reached 13, including National Oil Company (NOC), Yetebaberut Beherawi Petroleum (YBP), Dalol Oil, Oil Libya, Total, Kobil, Wadi Al Sundus, Nile Petroleum, All Way Petroleum, Tebarek Oli and TAF Oil S.C. These distributers operate around 700 petrol stations.
These 13 distributers receive fuel from the Ethiopian Petroleum Supply Enterprise (EPSE), which is the only company supplying fuel to distributors. EPSE buys fuel from international suppliers such as the Sudanese Sudan Petroleum Corporation, Saudi Arabia and KPG from Kuwait. It was established in 2012, taking over the duties of the National Petroleum Depot Administration.
During the previous fiscal year, the EPSE imported about three million metric tons of petroleum products, worth 30.3 billion Br, which was 20.1pc lower than last year mainly due to a significant drop in international oil prices. Out of the total imports, regular gasoline, jet fuel, fuel oil and gas oil accounts for 299,000 tons, 735,921 tons, 106,978 and 16 million tons, respectively.
Out of the total distributors, four are major distributors including NOC, Oil Libya, Total and YBP, accounting for 90.4pc of the fuel distribution of the country. The remainder is covered by the other companies.
Among the operational distributers, the largest market share went to NOC with 33pc, followed by Total at 23.1pc and Oil Libya, which accounts for 22pc. Before the establishment of the NOC and YBP in 2002, there were only four operational suppliers in the country named Mobil, Agip, Shell and Total operating for over 30 years.
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