Petroleum (Licence Fees) Regulations, 2024 Normal Petroleum Licence Fees

The Minister of Energy and Power Development, after consulting ZERA, has set the licence fees for the petroleum sector. They apply to companies licensed to procure, produce, wholesale and retail petroleum products under Part VI of the Petroleum Act.

The fees, all excluding VAT, are: petroleum procurement US$30 000; ethanol production US$20 000; petroleum wholesale US$9 200; LPG wholesale US$8 000; petroleum blending US$5 000; petroleum retail (urban) US$500; and petroleum retail (rural) US$200, which is the same as LPG retail at US$200.

The gap between urban and rural retail is deliberate and large — a rural service station pays 40 per cent of what an urban one pays. The heaviest burden by far falls on procurement licensees at US$30 000.

Two practical points. The fee is payable on application, once the operator has satisfied the Authority through the appropriate licence application. And it is non-refundable once the licence has been issued, so there is no route to a refund if you stop trading.

The regulations state no commencement date and no penalty. The schedule closes with a stray quotation mark after the LPG wholesale line, which suggests the schedule is a substitution for an earlier one, although this instrument does not say which one it replaces.