26 May 2026

Botswana Oil Limited (BOL) acting Chief Executive Officer has assured the nation that stock levels will improve, as supply trucks continue to arrive daily despite the current fuel cover standing at just 12.2 days as of last Friday.

Appearing before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Statutory Bodies and State Enterprises on Monday, Ms Latelang Chakalisa, explained that the country’s current 41.5 million litres of available fuel included petrol, which would last for 8.4 days while diesel was expected to last for 16.4 days.

She noted that BOL’s ongoing infrastructure expansions were ultimately aimed at securing a 60-day fuel stock cover for the nation. Currently, she said the Gaborone depot had a capacity of 24 million litres, while the Francistown depot can hold 38 million litres and the facility was being upgraded to add an extra 60 million litres of storage capacity. She added that the Francistown expansion project was being carried out in phases and was expected to be completed by late this year or early next year. Ms Chakalisa also indicated that the first phase was already fully operational, featuring a new six-bay road loading and offloading gantry. Again, she said while procedural issues and demands for a direct procurement process by some first-phase contractors caused initial setbacks, matters had been resolved and work was progressing to the next stage.

She said storage security would be provided by the upcoming construction of a 30 million-litre depot in Ghanzi.Meanwhile, she said the Tshele Hills Strategic Petroleum Depot, a joint development between Botswana and Oman, remained in the pipeline as authorities awaited land acquisition.

Addressing fuel logistics, the acting CEO highlighted BOL’s mandate to handle 90 per cent of all petroleum product imports consumed in the country.

She emphasised citizen economic empowerment within the supply chain, noting that the vast majority of the contracted logistics firms were citizen-owned, accounting for 28 out of the 30 total companies.

Furthermore, Ms Chakalisa reassured the committee on quality control measures, stating that all fuel products endured rigorous testing before entering the country. ENDS