The National Oil Company of Ethiopia (NOC) invested 119 million birr to expand its aviation fuel depot at the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport.
NOC has bought two modern aircraft refueler at a cost of 40 million birr and invested 79 million birr on the aviation fuel depot loading and unloading infrastructure. The aviation depot infrastructure and the new aviation fuel trucks were inaugurated in the presence of Guang Tutlam (PhD), state minister of the Ministry of Mines, Petroleum and Natural Gas and Mesfin Tassew chief operation officer of Ethiopian Airlines
Tadesse Tilahun, CEO of NOC, disclosed that chairman of the board of directors of the company, Sheik Mohammed Hussein Ali Al Amoudi, had approved a total of 119 million birr used to finance the aviation depot expansion project. According to Tadesse, so far NOC has invested 250 million birr on the aviation depot.
The new modern aircraft refuelers each have the capacity to carry 44,000 litres of jet fuel. The new aircraft refuelling trucks would increase the refueling capacity of NOC by 26.5 percent.
NOC inaugurated its aviation fuel depot seven years ago. It has eight aircraft refuelling trucks and its aviation depot has a storage capacity of 3.1 million litres of jet fuel. Tadesse claims that his company has a 38 percent of market share in the aviation fuel supply business in Ethiopia.
In line with the fast growth of the national carrier the aviation fuel consumption in the country grew by three fold in the past ten years. The annual jet fuel consumption, which was only 128,000 metric tons in 2004, tripled to 687,000 metric tons in 2016.
The national carrier’s fast growth prompted NOC to expand its aviation depot in Addis Ababa as well as build new depots in the regional states airports. NOC has built aviation depots in Gambella, Assosa, Jimma and Kombolcha. The company is in the process to start supplying aviation fuel in Semera, Dembi Dolo and Jimma airports.
Tadesse said NOC will boost its aviation fuel storage capacity from 3.1 million liters to 5.1 million liters, builds its firefighting facilities and increase the number of fuel tanker trucks that transports fuel from Port of Djibouti to 270.
NOC which joined the petroleum distribution industry in 2005 has 180 gas stations in the country and its aggregate investment has reached two billion birr while its overall asset is valued at 5.5 billion birr.
[www.thereporterethiopia.com]