Puma Energy takes over operations of UBI Holdings
Puma Energy Africa, a fast-growing energy company, has entered the country’s fuel storage and distribution market through the acquisition of minority shares in UBI Holdings.
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Puma operates in the storage business in partnership with Blue Ocean Investments, while its stake in UBI Petroleum, now Puma Energy Distribution Ghana, enables it to operate in the retail side. The company said it was poised to deliver quality and affordable fuel in the country.
“Puma Energy links local demand with international supply, through investment in infrastructure,” the Chief Operating Officer for Puma Energy Africa, Mr Christophe Zyde, said in a statement copied to the Daily Graphic.
The release indicated that Puma Energy had been supporting the country’s fuel industry for almost 10 years through the construction and operation of the CBM import system (a system which uses the weight of the consignment to determine cost) which had been consistently available and used to import all crude and fuel products into Ghana.
“In Ghana, we have built partnerships with local players – Blue Ocean Investments and UBI Petroleum – in order to increase the fuel storage capacity of Ghana and to bring efficiencies and enhance economic growth.”
More recently, Puma Energy, through Blue Ocean Investments, has built three new storage terminals at Kotoka International Airport (KIA), Tema Ridge and Takoradi. At the KIA aviation fuel depot, Puma Energy, through Blue Ocean Investments, has added storage capacity of 10,000 cubic metres (m³) to the existing 750m³ depot.
“The increased capacity and security of supply provided by our investments into aviation storage at KIA and Tema Ridge means that Ghana can optimise its positioning as a hub for aviation in West Africa,” the General Manager for Puma Energy in Ghana, Mr Myles Bouvier-Baird, was quoted in the release as saying.
“The same goes for our investments into clean fuel storage at our Takoradi Terminal, which will be the first depot to store gasoline in Ghana’s Western Region.”
With a focus on integrated midstream and downstream activities, Puma Energy has a reputation for achieving significant economies of scale and operating efficiencies, which translates into competitive costing, managed risk, secured supply and seamless delivery.
The increased air traffic adds a significant boost to the country’s potential for trade and economic growth.
And with the Tema Ridge depot, the further 15,000m³ of storage of aviation fuel improves efficiency, reinforces security of supply and aids improved planning for the entire market.
The new Takoradi Terminal supports the Ghanaian government’s policy to improve regional fuel supply with the new gasoline/gas oil terminal’s added 32,000m³ capacity servicing the west of the country. This reduces the need for thousands of trucks to deliver to the region from Tema.
“Puma Energy seeks to build infrastructure and make affordable fuel available to consumers through its growing retail network of over 40 stations. Not only does this stimulate economic growth by connecting urban and rural areas; it gets people, goods, trade and industry moving,” Mr Zyde stated.
The statement said local talent was fundamental to Puma Energy’s strategy, as the combination of knowledge and Puma Energy’s entrepreneurial business model would grow into dynamic, accountable businesses with broad benefits.
To date, Puma Energy directly employs 162 people in Ghana with 94 per cent of these employees being local.
Synergy
Puma Energy’s entry comes in the wake of Ghana’s remarkable stride towards economic transformation, particularly in the extractives sector, with oil and gas leading the way.
Although Ghanaian shareholders form the majority, trading under Puma Energy would enable the company in Ghana to draw on the support of the Puma Energy Group, which now boasts footprints in 47 countries across five continents and present in 19 African countries, with 50 per cent of its ownership being in the hands of African investors.
“We pride ourselves as Africa’s fuel supplier of choice, committed to building capacity in fuel transport, bunkering, storage and distribution in Ghana and across the African continent,” the release pointed out.
Official launch
The company is expected to officially launch the new company at a short ceremony on April 12, 2016, in Accra.
The Minister of Energy and Petroleum, Mr Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, and the Chief Operating Officer of Puma Energy Africa, Mr Christophe Zyde, are expected to address the event.
“Puma Energy values these developments as an opportunity to partner Ghana in empowering the energy sector with the supply of affordable, high-quality products in a safe, swift and reliable way, and at a competitive price,” the release stated.