11 Jul 2021

Botswana Oil Limited (BOL)’s commitment to facilitate citizens and develop the industry for the benefit of all remains unwavering, says the company’s acting general manager - operations, Mr Tshegofatso Kenosi.

Mr Kenosi, who was speaking at their Tshele Hill project in Rasesa on Tuesday said BLO’s existence revolved around lowering barriers for entry into the oil and gas industry by citizens.

He said they had and continued to achieve this in various ways, with the first being the relationship they had developed with other players in the sector, including both international oil companies and citizen-owned oil companies.

“In facilitating citizen companies, we continue to run workshops on an array of subjects along the oil and gas value chain. We reserve certain tenders, especially in transportation of products, for citizen companies and we also reserve storage space in our tanks for lease to citizen companies,” he said.

“Our continued cooperation, evident in the many consultations we have with Botswana Citizen-Owned Companies Association (BOCOCA) are testimony to our mutual commitment to grow the national oil and gas industry,” he said,

Mr Kenosi further said in the not-so-distant future, they expected to see a home-grown oil company becoming a household name, not only in the country, but internationally. Additionally, he noted that BOL’s commitment was also evident in the projects it continued to embark on, such as the Tshele Hills project. Tshele Hill project is one of the country’s key strategic projects for ensuring security of fuel supply in Botswana

Mr Kenosi said with increased volume and storage, citizen companies would benefit from these developments as BOL would be better placed to facilitate them.

He said the benefits would not only end there, but trickle down even to the pump.

Furthermore, Mr Kenosi said the continued cooperation between BOL and BOCOCA would result in positive results for the local gas and oil industry. For his part, BOCOCA chairperson, Mr Eric Galetshoge said local companies’ participation in the country’s oil industry must be ensured.

He said there was a good number of citizens who were skilled and capable enough to be given the opportunity to drive oil and gas industry. ENDS