Petroleum Depot Company moves to end fuel scarcity in northern regions.

Business in Cameroon reports specifically that SCDP has awarded a 2.359 billion FCFA contract to RG & Co./Bajaj Steel Industries Limited, to expand existing facility by 54.5%.

The move will see the increase of present storage capacity by building a 3,000-cubic-meter diesel tank at the Ngaoundere depot of SCDP. 

According to corporation officials, once completed, the project is expected to increase the site's white petroleum product storage capacity from 5,500 to 8,500 cubic meters, based on the rounded figures published by the company, a 54.5% increase that could strengthen fuel logistics in the entire northern Cameroon.

The award decision, signed on June 9, 2026, and published later by the Public Procurement Regulatory Agency, ARMP, gives the contractor 16 months to complete the work.

Officials explained that the distinction between current and future storage capacity is important, as the 5,500-cubic-meter figure reflects SCDP's rounded estimate of the depot's current white petroleum product storage. 

The projected 8,500 cubic meters will only be reached after the new tank is built, accepted, and placed into service. 

According to the depot's technical data sheet, current storage consists of 1,410 cubic meters of gasoline, 1,960 cubic meters of kerosene, and 2,170 cubic meters of diesel, for a combined total of 5,540 cubic meters. 

While the new tank would raise theoretical storage capacity to 8,540 cubic meters, an increase of 54.2%. The additional 3,000 cubic meters would account for 35.3% of the projected rounded capacity of 8,500 cubic meters. 

The figure measures the new tank's share of future storage capacity rather than the increase from current facilities, management explained.

Insisting that SCDP separately lists 1,420 cubic meters of Jet A1 fuel and 950 cubic meters of fuel oil. Volumes that are not included in the 5,500-cubic-meter baseline used to calculate the increase in white petroleum product storage.

SCDP also plans to expand liquefied petroleum gas, LPG, storage at Ngaoundere, even though an initial tender for a 250-ton horizontal LPG storage vessel was canceled on April 24, 2025, because of IT problems at the ARMP. 

As anticipated, SCDP management announced that the Ngaoundere depot serves the whole of Adamawa and parts of the East and other northern regions. 

Expanding storage capacity, it was said, could improve logistical flexibility and reduce the depot's exposure to some supply delays. 

SCDP also presents the LPG storage expansion as a way to reduce household dependence on firewood and lower exposure to smoke from cooking fuels. 

The World Health Organisation classifies LPG as a clean fuel at the point of use and notes that women and children bear a disproportionate share of the health effects associated with polluting fuels.

Environmentalists say none of the public documents reviewed quantify how much firewood consumption could be avoided in Adamawa, how much forest area could be preserved, or what savings households might realize. The project's projected environmental and social benefits therefore remain unsubstantiated.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3864 of Friday July 31, 2026