Analysis of licences granted and constructions recorded in petroleum product storage and distribution infrastructures

1- Overall state of licences granted:

                                                                                                                                                 Situation stoped on june 30^th, 2005

Licences granted	Period	Situation at 31/12/2003	Situation at 30/06/2004	Situation at  31 /12/ 2004	Situation at  30 /06/ 2005
LPG filling centres		39	39	49	49
Lubricant distributors		56	70	80	89
Service stations		385	410	431	458
LPG motor fuel service station extensions		137	152	168	184
Increase in storage capacity		10	11	12	15
Bitumens		10	10	11	12
Regeneration of used oils		2	2	2	2
Manufacture of lubricants		3	3	3	3
Fuel storage and distribution centres		7	7	8	8
LPG cylinder interchangeability		9	9	9	9
Transfers of ownership		122	128	138	150
Up-dated decisions		7	13	13	14
Extension of licence deadlines		9	14	22	36
Takers-over of petroleum products		9	9	11	11
Regularisation		3	5	6	19
Cancellation		0	1	4	7
TOTAL		808	883	961	1066

 Last update: 18/09/2005

An increase of 25% in licences granted was recorded in the first six months of 2004 compared with the same period in the 2003 financial year: 176 additional licences were granted between June 2003 and June 2004, involving:

·         +48 licences to build service stations

·         +36 licences for lubricant distribution activities.

·         +27 licences to build LPG motor fuel service station extensions.

·         +19 licences for transfers of ownership

·         +10 licences for deadline extensions.

For the other licences - Interchangeability of LPG cylinders, Up-dating, Filling centres, Regularisation, Bitumens, Increases in storage capacities, Manufacture of lubricants, Fuel storage and distribution centres, Takers-over, Regeneration of used oils and cancellation - the number of licences during this period (June 2003 - June 2004) increased by +1 and +7.

75 licences were issued in the first six months of 2004, against 78 in the first six months of 2003.

 

Private investors were more interested in some activities than others, for the following reasons:

 

    Service stations: 25 licences for this type of investment were issued during the first six months of 2004, against 30 in the first six months of 2003. This decrease in the number of licences issued can basically be explained by problems in acquiring plots of land, retail margin stagnation and the withdrawal in 2001 of tax advantages applied until then by ANDI (ex APSI).

 

Continued private developer interest in building service stations is explained almost exclusively by the significant earnings generated by related activities (car wash, lubrication and other commercial activities).

    Lubricant distribution: Activity requiring minimum investment but with potentially substantial earnings in the short term. The free access to the Naftec refineries with attractive prices enjoyed by distributors explains the current, noticeable expansion in this activity.

The number of licences issued increased from 9 during the first six months of 2003 to 14 during the same period in 2004, an increase of 55%.

    LPG motor fuel development: Activity becoming increasingly significant nationally, despite the supply problems experienced by the stations.

Investor interest in this activity is explained by the high demand for this product, the facilities available for financial credits, the large retail margin on this product (DA 0.90 per litre) compared with petrol and promotional actions for this fuel launched by our sector (organisation of seminars and study days). 14 licences were issued during the first six months of 2004, against 12 during the same period of 2003.

    LPG filling centres: Maintaining financial and fiscal advantages for this activity by ANDI, the measures taken by the Ministry of Energy and Mining - free access to sources, cylinder interchangeability with Naftal cylinders, absence of drumming infrastructures in certain sensitive regions and high product demand - explain the interest shown by developers in this activity until the end of 2003.

This type of investment has slowed down. No licences were issued during the first six months of 2004. Two (2) developers, with dossiers finalised during this period, may receive licences once they have settled the question of cylinder acquisition.

2- State of physical construction of projects as at 30 June 2004:

    Fuel storage and distribution centres: 7

·  1 being operated,

·  6 being built, rates of progress for the work fall between 21 and 90% for 4 projects

    Increase in storage capacities for infrastructures in activity: 11

·  5 in service,

·  6 being built, with physical rates of progress for the work of over 20% for two of them.

 

    LPG filling centres: 39  

·  8 are operational,

·  31 are being built, the rates of progress for the work are over 20% for 22 project

    Bitumen formulation and distribution units: 10

·  2 are operational,

·  8 projects are being built, physical rates of progress for the work vary between 21% and 90% for 4 projects.

     Service stations: 410

·  100 stations are operational,

·  10 are being built, with rates of progress for the work varying between 0% and 20% for 176 projects and over 20% for 134.

    LPG motor fuel service station extensions: 152

·  70 station extensions are operational,

·  82 station extensions are being built, including 22 projects where work has progressed by over 20%.

A total of 219 projects are in operation as at 30 June 2004, against 173 being operated as at 30 June 2003.

3 - Commissioned during the first six months of 2004: 14 projects:

Service stations	: 9 (against 5 for first six months 2003)
LPG motor fuel extension	: 2 (against 5 for first six months 2003)
Lubricant storage and distribution centres	: 2 (against 5 for first six months 2003)
Bitumen formulation and distribution units	: 0 (against 2 for first six months 2003)
Increase in storage capacities	: 1 (against 3 for first six months 2003)

 

4 - Dossiers currently being examined for reworking to Ministry of Energy and Mining level:

133, basically comprising fuel storage and distribution centres (5), LPG filling centres (11), service stations (49), LPG motor fuel service station extensions (32) and lubricant distribution (16).