Namibia's state-owned oil company, the National Petroleum Corporation (NAMCOR) has taken over the national oil storage facility, jointly built by Chinese and Namibian firms.
The construction of the multi-billion-dollar facility commenced in January 2015, and was done by a joint venture between China Harbour Engineering Company, the Roads Contractor Company and Babyface Civils. It consists of tanker jetty product pipelines and a terminal consisting of seven tanks with a capacity of 75 million liters.
At an official handover ceremony held on Monday, NAMCOR board chairperson, Jennifer Comalie, thanked the Namibian government for strategically investing in such a facility and showing confidence in NAMCOR and its leadership to operate and manage the facility.
"This facility was designed and constructed as a strategic storage facility with the primary aim of increasing Namibia's security of fuel supply from the previous 7 to 10 days to 30 to 45 days in situations where the country will be unable to import petroleum products from the international market," Comalie said.
Speaking at the same event, NAMCOR managing director, Immanuel Mulunga said the facility will not only be used for NAMCOR's own trading purposes but also to host other international oil marketing companies such as Vitol, Gunvor, Vivo and Total to ensure that it is utilized optimally and that Namibia becomes a strategic gateway through which neighboring African countries are supplied.
The first shipment of commissioning stock arrived on Dec. 1, 2020, which heralded the facility's testing and commissioning.
