Hundreds To Lose Jobs After Ideni Refinery Placed Under Administration

Hundreds of employees at the Ideni Petroleum Refinery in Ndola are predicted to lose their jobs after the government announced it was placing the facility under care and maintenance administration.

In a statement, Energy Minister Peter Kapala said that the company’s remaining employees would be reassigned to manage fuel storage depots at Tazama Petroleum Products Ltd. 

He said the move formed part of the government’s overall plan to restructure the fuel supply chain in order to ensure low costs and a stable supply of petroleum products. 

“The overall objective of the reforms are aimed at ensuring that there is adequate, reliable and affordable supply of petroleum products in the country,” he explained.

The minister added that, “Government has begun to look at modalities that will reduce the cost of transporting petroleum products and improve efficiency in delivery [of] petroleum products”.

Under the new plans, the government intends to transport quantities of Low Sulphur Gasoil (LSG-Diesel) through the TAZAMA pipeline, as well as transport products such as petrol, LPG and Kerosene by road as these will no longer be produced at Ideni.

“Instituting the above reforms in the fuel supply and procurement system will ensure security of supply of petroleum products leading to stability in the market,” Mr Kapala said.

Ideni’s placement under government care and maintenance comes following a tricky couple of years for the refinery. In 2017, the World Bank declared that the facility was “inefficient and technologically unsuited for current fuel needs” as its capacity was too small. In April of this year, the refinery was closed down indefinitely as the Patriotic Front government opted for short-term fuel supply contracts.