1. Introduction
The Petroleum Fund is a statutory organisation under the Ministry of Finance which was established through the Legal Notice No. 96 of 1997 under the Finance Order of 1988. The purpose of the Fund is to collect revenue that is used for the purpose of ensuring that there is security of supply of the petroleum products in the country. The Fund is managed by the Board through the Secretariat which is headed by the Executive Secretary. The operations of the Fund are guided by the Petroleum Fund Regulations of 2009. Specifically, the Regulations specify that the purpose of the Fund is to finance amongst others, the following:
• The purchase of petroleum products in times of crisis;
• The provision of national storage facilities for petroleum products when the need arises;
• The improvement of the distribution of petroleum products throughout the country;
• The improvement of safety at storage facilities;
• The research and studies pertinent to the petroleum sector, and
• Any other energy project on a loan basis.
Furthermore, pricing of petroleum products is the responsibility of the Petroleum Fund
(PF) Board as per the delegation of powers regulations of 20001 by the Minister of Natural Resources (now Energy and Meteorology). The PF is responsible for setting the pump prices of petrol and diesel and the wholesale price of illuminating paraffin. The basis of the pricing mechanism is the import parity mechanism, which is based on international refineries.
In an endeavour to manage the pricing of these products internally, the country has been divided into four petroleum products pricing zones and these are based on the distance from the nearest supply depot inside and outside the country. These are, the lowlands zone (Zone 1) which includes the Qacha’s Nek district because of the Cedarville depot, the Mphaki zone (Zone 2) which covers the Mphaki area, the Thaba-
1 Fuel and Services (delegation) Regulations 2000
Tseka zone (Zone 3) which covers the Thaba-tseka district and the Mokhotlong zone
(Zone 4) covering Mokhotlong district. Each Zone with the exception of the lowlands Zone has a transport differential and these are 5 lisente per litre for Zone 2, 8 lisente per litre for Zone 3, and 16 lisente per litre for Zone 4. These transport differentials are added to the Zone 1 price to determine the prices for each Zone which results in prices being different throughout the country. However, the Fund has implemented a transport subsidy arrangement absorbing these costs and making the prices of petroleum products to be the same for the whole country and the Oil Companies claim the transport costs on deliveries to these zones.
The basis for the determination of the transport amounts is no longer in line with the current supply patterns and logistics and hence needs to be reviewed as some of the depots have since been closed down.
2. Objectives
The objectives of the proposed study are:
• Bring the current zones into conformity with the new supply logistical arrangements;
• Update zoning provisions to reflect actual supply logistics and make recommendations regarding issues and/or problem areas and new zones if necessary;
• Develop detailed zoning structure for petroleum products in the country; and
• Develop a mechanism for the annual review of the transport differentials.
3. Reporting
The Consultant’s will overall be reporting to the Chairperson of the Projects Financing Committee of the Board, but on a day to day basis will be responsible to the Executive Secretary. The Consultant will also be expected to produce, upon the Petroleum Fund’s request, a formal progress report for the Executive Secretary that includes an overview of the project, a narrative description of project activities, detailed information on project objectives and milestones, actual achievements made against the timeline and deliverables agreed upon at the onset.
4.
Deliverables of the Consultant
The Consultant is expected to come up with a comprehensive report with recommendations which the Fund will implement in an endeavour to improve the availability of petroleum products through cost recovery for deliveries to all parts of the country.
The Consultant will be expected to review the zones and produce a report with recommendations covering the following:
• Examine the reasonableness of the current transport differential
amounts in relation to the level of investment in the country;
• Examine the current and historic supply, consumption and volumes in various zones;
• A complete and comprehensive review of all zones in the country;
• Amendment and update zone categories and provisions, as necessary;
• Development of a system for providing the Fund with adjustment
information on a site specific basis (mapping and/or text);
• Identification of policy issues to be fully researched and included in revised zoning;
• Review and provide comments on all current zone provisions;
• Investigation of all zoning discrepancies in the current system.
5. Outputs
The consultant is expected to produce:
5.1 Inception Report
a) stating among other things, how the work will be undertaken;
b) A report of the work done by the consultant including methodologies used.
5.2 Zoning Model Report
a) Produce a revised zones for Lesotho (Map);
b) A model/system that will be used for the determination of amounts of the transport differentials for each zone;
6. Expected Duration of the Assignment
The assignment is expected to be carried out for a period not exceeding three (3) months but will be discussed with the consultant during the inception period as the consultant will be required to prepare and submit the entire plan in a way that allows the achievement of all deliverables.
7. Payment Terms
The payment schedule shall be in two phases; Phase I and II.
Phase 1— upon presentation of the Inception Report
Phase II — upon conclusion of the assignment and presentation and approval of the Final Report.
8. Qualification and Experience
The successful bidder/consultant shall comprise a team managed by a single lead advisor. The members of the team will have the skill and experience necessary to undertake a range of tasks set out in the Terms of Reference and each individual must be personally available to do the work as and when required. The lead advisor will be held accountable, in terms of the Review of Zones contract, for ensuring project deliverables and for the professional conduct and the integrity of the team.
The skills and experience required in the Review of the Petroleum Pricing Zones Team are as follows:
• At least 10 years’ experience in the field of petroleum industry operations;
• Past experience in undertaking work for similar organisations as the Petroleum Fund;
• Having carried out similar assignments in Lesotho will be an added advantage.
• Familiarity with local petroleum industry issues and dynamics
• Ability to render consulting services in the most professional, effective and efficient manner;
• Strong analytical skills with conceptual understanding;
• Strong, proven functional skills in analytical writing, and producing reports;
• Excellent demonstrated ability to be flexible and work under tight
deadlines in an independent working environment;
• High level of communication and interpersonal skills;
• Ability to execute the proposed scope of work.
9. Submission of Proposals
The Proposals shall be submitted in two separate envelopes clearly marked (Technical Proposal and Financial Proposal) and in the following manner:
a) A Technical Proposal outlining the methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work. This will include the following:
• A brief description of the firm/organisation;
• An outline of recent experience on assignments of a similar nature. It will also be important to include a summary of the challenges experienced and how they were resolved;
• A description of the methodology to be used and work plan for performing the assignment. The Consultant is expected to demonstrate capability in delivering these tasks smoothly as well as cover all the Client requirements needed;
• Provide three reference sites where similar work has been conducted in the last five years. The years in which the assignments were carried out should be clearly indicated.
• The list of the proposed advisory staff by speciality, the tasks to be assigned to each staff team members, and their timing;
• CVs recently signed by the proposed professional staff and the
authorised representative submitting the proposal. This should include the Consultant’s degree of responsibility held in various assignments during the last ten (10) years;
• Estimates of the total staff input (professional and support staff; staff time) needed to carry out the assignment, supported by bar chart and/or Gantts diagrams showing the time proposed for each professional staff team and
• A valid Traders License and Tax Clearance Certificates
b) The Financial Proposal containing the final and all-inclusive total price offer for the full range of services required, broken down into all major cost components associated with the service.
Interested consultants are requested to submit their proposals to the Petroleum Fund Secretariat offices at the following address:
First Floor
Lesotho Chamber Of Commerce and industry Complex,
Orpen Road, Old Europa,
Maseru, Lesotho.
The deadline for the submission of proposals is Friday 13th November 2020, at 12:00 noon and the opening of the Tenders will be at 12:30hrs on the same day.
10. Disclaimer
a) The Petroleum Fund may invite one or more finalists to make presentations;
b) In its sole discretion, the Fund may negotiate with one or more firms who have submitted qualifications to submit more detailed proposals on specific projects as they arise;
c) By this Request, the Petroleum Fund has not committed itself to undertake the work set forth;
d) The Petroleum Fund reserves the right to reject any and all proposals, to rebid the original or amended scope of services and to enter into negotiations with one or more respondents;
e) The Petroleum Fund reserves the right to make those decisions after receipt of responses; and
f) The Petroleum Fund’s decision on these matters is final.
Date of Issue 29th October 2020
Submission date 13th November 2020 at 12:00 noon
Place Petroleum Fund Offices
Lesotho Chamber Of Commerce and
Industry Complex
Contact Person Operations Manager
Mr. L. Makhoali
Contact 22312137