Petroleum & Gas Sector

The Petroleum Act, 2020 gives regulatory powers to ESERA, and it allows for consultation and engagement of industry players in the development of sector frameworks and regulatory instruments.

The Petroleum Act, 2020 defines the Regulatory function in the Petroleum industry as the licensing of downstream activities with license conditions including wholesale, retail, commercial consumers, distribution and storage of Petrol, Diesel, and Paraffin, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), Blending, Natural Gas and Petrochemical licences; as well as the monitoring of compliance to the licensing conditions, and inspection of petroleum facilities.

In the Petroleum sector, the Authority accomplishes its mandate through the following roles;

• Issue licences;
• Set licence conditions;
• Enforce compliance to licence conditions;
• Receive, investigate and adjudicate complaints;
• Encourage development of uniform industry standards and code of conduct;
• Promote consumer interests whilst maintaining the integrity and sustainability of regulated entities

Below is a table that displays the sectoral changes that the Eswatini Petroleum Industry Regulation went through in the recent period;

Category	Previous Dispensation Before Petroleum Act 2020	Dispensation After Petroleum Act 2020
Fuel Wholesale	Wholesale suppliers of fuel were designated through a legal notice using guidelines.	A wholesale license now has terms and conditions which will enforce compliance.
Fuel Retail	Service stations were allowed by a rationalization committee which gave a right to develop a filling station.	A retail licence now has terms and conditions to address allocations, safety and pricing issues.
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Wholesale	Not covered	An LPG wholesale licence has terms and conditions to enforce compliance to safety standards during importation and distribution of the product.
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Retail	Not covered	An LPG retail licence has terms and conditions to enforce compliance to safety standards when providing the product to the consumer.
Petrochemical	Not covered	A petrochemical licence covers technologies such as coal-to-liquids and other petroleum refining by-products and wastes.
Blending	Not covered	A blending licence has terms and conditions for blending of biofuels with petroleum products.
Commercial Consumer	Not covered	This licence has terms and conditions guiding the procurement of bulk petroleum products within Eswatini.
Liquefied Natural Gas	Not covered	This licence has terms and conditions to address the supply and distribution of natural gas.
Storage Licence	Not covered	This licence covers the licencing of bulk storage of petroleum products.