Ethiopia's oil consumption grows by three quarters in four years

Takes up 60% of export earning

Addis Ababa, October 11 – Ethiopia's oil consumption has sharply increased and the expenditure for oil is 60 percent of the revenue from export, the Ethiopian Petroleum Enterprise said.
Enterprise Public Relations Officer Damenu Kibret said yesterday that the country’s demand for oil has grown rapidly as a result of the economic progress during the past four years.

Accordingly, its consumption which stood at 1,245,000 metric tons four years ago jumped to 1,610,000 metric tons last budget year, he said.

Most of the oil imported is gas oil which is used to run heavy duty construction machineries and agricultural trucks, among others, he indicated.

One of the reasons behind the increase in the price of oil is the increase in the consumption of Jet A1 with the expansion of the flight destinations of Ethiopian Airlines and the flights of other airlines to the country in connection with the Ethiopian Millennium celebrations.

The Enterprise is working in collaboration with National Petroleum, Shell, Total, National Oil, Kobil and Nile Petroleum to meet the country's demand for oil, he said, adding that these oil distributors have assumed due responsibility to avoid interruption of oil supply in any part of the country.

The expense for oil would decline when the bio-fuel processing at Fincha Sugar Factory becomes operational, the PR officer said, adding that the production will also help reduce the amount of imported oil as the ethanol could be mixed with benzene for similar use. (WIC)