By Alpha Abu
The Executive Chairman of the Petroleum Regulatory Agency Dr. Brima Baluwa Koroma has said that the Sierra Leone Oil Refinery at Kissy which had remained closed for decades will resume operations in April this year.
The facility according to the Executive Chairman has been rehabilitated and is set to resume refining of petroleum products in Sierra Leone.
Dr.Koroma was outlining some of the operational successes and challenges of the Agency during a press briefing at the Ministry of Information and Communications in Freetown yesterday, 4th February 2020. He said they will be introducing 60,000 metric tonnes capacity, of which 10,000 will be owned by the government to assuage the possibility of external shocks.
On the increase in pump price of petroleum products from 7, 500 Leones to 8,500 Leones that became effective on the 4th January 2021, Dr. Koroma said the government spent 66.6 billion Leones last year on subsidising for fuel alone. And that for this year’s January alone, the government has subsidised about 17 billion Leones and claimed that even with this latest increase, Sierra Leone is still below the average price ceiling in the sub-region.
According to the PRA Boss, the price is usually influenced by the international market price and the rate of the foreign exchange. He said the country has the best price regime in this part of the world, having refused to yield to depressing external factors especially in the last quarter of last year. He also disclosed that the sector contributes 15 percent to the domestic revenue, which has gone into supporting the health, education, energy and agriculture sectors, among others. He said the country consumes 1.1 million litres of fuel per day but however noted that with a population of over 7 million there are only two importers, two large storage companies and one jetty.
He spoke about the problem associated with the smuggling of petrol into neighbouring countries citing January this year during which 40 million litres of petrol was recorded as locally consumed in stark variance to most of the months in the last two years that had a monthly consumption rate of 16 million litres. He registered the PRA’s commitment to maintaining a stable and favourable market environment for the benefit of all.
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