The Mayor of Walvis Bay, Uilika Nambahu, made the announcement during the first council meeting held on Tuesday at Kuisebmond municipal chambers.

Nambahu said she is optimistic about the project, as it will not only create much-needed jobs during and after the construction phase but is also in line with the towns’ strategic development plan formulated to transform the Walvis Bay into a regional logistics hub.

“Upon its completion, the oil storage capacity of the country will be increased from 14 days to about 30 days,” Nambahu briefed the council meeting.

The bulk fuel storage facility is a project of the Namibia Petroleum Corporation (Namcor), who awarded the tender for the construction of the facility to a joint venture company that includes the Roads Contractor Company (RCC) and China Harbour Construction Engineering Company (CHCEC).

The tender specifications include the design, engineering and construction of an oil tanker jetty, a buffer pump station, petroleum pipelines and the crucial 75 million litre oil storage facility.

Namcor will operate the facility that is due for completion by mid-2017.

Fuel imports are said to be the major drain on Namibia’s foreign currency reserves. For a country such as Namibia, which is a net importer of fuel (and a ‘price-taking country’, as opposed to a price-setting country), building the internal bulk storage facility with capacity to store at least 30 days’ worth of reserve fuel is considered a good practice by international standards.

Highly industrialised countries such as China and the USA tend to store at least six months’ worth of fuel.

Namcor currently runs three fuel storage depots across the country and holds a nine percent stake in the wholesale distribution of fuel, but is also looking at establishing a number of fuel stations countrywide.

The new bulk storage facility will be the largest fuel storage facility in the country, and the first to be 100 percent owned by government through Namcor. Existing storage facilities are owned by private oil companies. The new facility will allow the country to keep a given threshold of products.

With the storage facilty, Namcor aims to establish depots in strategic towns such as Ondangwa, Grootfontein, Mariental, Keetmanshoop, Gobabis and Lüderitz.