An Australian based consultancy firm has bagged a quarter of a billion Birr deal to design and supervise the construction of the nation’s largest oil terminal in Dukem, Oromia Regional State worth three billion Birr. The amount comprises of 8.3pc of the total project.
SMEC International PTY, the winning firm, will prepare a final design of the terminal and supervise the project and assist the Ethiopian Petroleum Supply Enterprise (EPSE) in the selection process of a contractor. SMEC had vied with six companies, who have responded to the initial tender that was announced the beginning of this year. Four of them could not pass the technical evaluation.
SAGA Global Consultants, an India firm; China Petroleum LONGWAY Engineering Management; a joint venture of Guangdong Quiyuan Building Design Institute and Aspire Aecom Consulting Architects & Engineers and Ekium Group from France are the companies who could not make the technical stage.
During the financial opening that was held in April, the UAE based, ILF Consulting Engineers, made the second least offer of 10.9 million dollars.
The to be built terminal has the capacity of boosting the nation’s petroleum reserving capacity by 65pc. Currently, the 13 terminals of the country have a capacity of reserving 367 million litres of oil. The new terminal alone can reserve 240 million litres. This will boost the duration of reserve to 65 days from the current 36. It will also provide petroleum to 24 petroleum retail companies, of which 17 of them are local.
SMEC, which was established in 2017 after a merger of two companies, Surbana Jurong Group and Robert Bird Group, will carry out the project in two phases; designing the terminal for 2.2 million dollars within 10 months. The second phase comprises of managing the project and supervising the site.
To rest on 10ha, the terminal will receive, store and dispatch automotive diesel oil, gasoline, aviation turbine fuel and ethanol. It is also expected to be finalised three years after the award. It is part of the strategic Depot Construction Master Development Programme of the Enterprise, which aims at constructing four depots across the country. The Enterprise is conducting a feasibility study for the remaining three depots.
Having the largest capacity, equipped with an automated control system and aviation turbine fuel stores, will be the unique features of the depot, according to Higamlak Haile, deputy CEO, Petroleum Storage & Engineering at the Enterprise, which spends 2.5 billion dollars annually to procure petroleum.
The nation’s oil demand increases by 10pc annually reaching over 3.5 million tonnes last year.
Because of its proximity to the capital and accessibility to the Addis-Djibouti Railway route, it would be the primary source of supply due to supply disruptions, according to Higamlak.
Abebe Dinku (Prof.), a civil engineer and a university lecturer with over three decades of experience, suggests the architecture company foresee some measures as the construction will take place in a smalltown like Dukam.
Fire safety, proximity to the railway, environmental protection, strong security and adequate accommodation for fuel tracks should be considered, according to Abebe.
The Enterprise, which was established half a century ago and has branches in Djibouti and Sudan, had recently launched another depot at Awash Sebat kilo having a capacity of 30 million litres and consuming 174 million Br for construction.
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