Africa-Press – Eswatini. The Eswatini Energy Regulatory Authority (ESERA) has called for consultancy services to develop a model for the efficient allocation of fuel station in the country.
According to a request for proposals (RFP) issued by ESERA the aim of the request is to solicit services of a suitably qualified consultant to develop a model for analysing petroleum retail sites (both existing and new applications) in order to produce an efficient retail service station network that will ensure that supply and demand is balanced within geographic areas to ensure sustainability of retail licensees given that margins are regulated.
“This network must be aligned to the basic fuel price model, as well as the regulatory accounting system model used for the determination of petroleum industry profit margins,” the RFP reads.
It also states that the model should be able to assist the regulator determine areas where there are too few or a surplus (more than enough to service the demand) of retail service stations and ultimately guide the decision to award a new petroleum retail licence.
The RFP model should ultimately ensure that the consumer does not incur an unnecessary cost at the pump, through high retail margins resulting from an over-supply of retail sites since the RAS model is cognisant of capital and operational costs. “For a market of the size of Eswatini, with the current petroleum economic regulation structure, efficiency in the allocation of retail licences is critical for the sustainability of the retail industry.
Ultimately, the licensing of a new service station should not lead to the immediate closure of an existing one,” the request for proposal reads.
For More News And Analysis About Eswatini Follow Africa-Press
