National Oil Ethiopia (NOC) has bought OiLibya Djibouti (OLD) and will soon begin distribution of petroleum products in Djibouti
NOC is paying close to US$22mn for the assets of OLD which include six retail outlets, an oil depot at Djibouti International Airport and oil tankers, apart from an office building.
According to Tadesse Tilahun, CEO of NOC, the retail outlets and vehicles will be renovated and branded as NOC-owned immediately after being handed over. Distribution of fuel, oil and other petroleum products would begin after that. The company will also install modern electronic instruments on its tankers and introduce controlling system as well as e-card purchase system soon, he added.
Tilahun said that NOC had been looking to start operations in Djibouti for the last two years. “Total Djibouti and Oil Libya were put up for sale, so after undertaking a due diligence study on both companies, NOC decided to buy Oil Libya,” he told reporters.
He explained that Sheik Mohammed Hussein Ali Al Amoudi, chairman of NOC’s board and majority share holder, had instructed the company’s management to branch out to East African countries including Djibouti, Kenya, South Sudan and Uganda in an effort to become a regional petroleum company.
NOC owns about 150 petroleum retail outlets and employs about 10,000 people in Ethiopia. It has 40 per cent of the petroleum retail market in the country.
