Mongolia currently has fuel storage facilities with a total capacity of 440,000 tons, equivalent to about one month’s national consumption, according to the Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources. Under the government’s action plan, new fuel storage facilities will be established to enable the country to store petroleum products for three to six months.
Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Damdinnyam Gongor stated that additional storage tanks are planned for next year.
“We plan to expand the country’s fuel reserve capacity next year. To do so, we will reintroduce the COVID-19 law and, through public-private cooperation, fill storage tanks using low-cost financing. Mongolia produces and exports 560,000 tons of crude oil annually and imports around 220,000 tons of petroleum products per month. With the growth of the mining sector, fuel consumption has been increasing by around 20 percent. To prevent possible fuel shortages, the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Economy and Development will soon finalize a concessional loan mechanism. We are working toward achieving the government’s goal of building reserves sufficient for three to six months of national demand,” the minister said.
The cost of storage tanks for a one-month reserve is currently estimated at MNT 500 billion. The government plans to provide MNT 50 billion in concessional loans to support enterprises in expanding fuel reserve capacity.