Mission and tasks

In its domain, APETRA has two important goals, namely

• to assure the security of supply of Belgium;
• to enable Belgium to meet its international stockholding obligations for crude oil and petroleum products.

To this end several tasks have been assigned to APETRA. These tasks consist in de management of the strategic stocks in general, the purchase of crude oil and petroleum products and the conclusion of contracts on the operational stocks of Belgian and, to a lesser extent, foreign oil companies. APETRA can also purchase, construct or rent storage capacity to lodge its stocks in property


The stocks managed by APETRA

The volume of strategic stocks which is annually to be managed by APETRA depends on two elements:

• the Belgian consumption of petroleum products in the previous year;
• the volume of stocks which is still being managed by the larger Belgian oil companies.
  

The total stockholding obligation of our country as member state of the European Union amounts, for the stockholding year 2012-2013, to some 3,7 million tons. Within this total quantity road diesel, heating oil and kerosene représent 89%.

For the International Energy Agency, which applies a different calculation basis and which takes into consideration also other sorts of petroleum products (e.g. asphalts, lubrifiants and naphta), our country has to hold some 5 million tons crude oil equivalent of strategic stocks.

Until 31/3/2012 the oil industry was responsible for a small part of the strategic stocks. As of 1/4/2012 APETRA is the sole manager. 

Purpose of the stocks

The strategic stocks are our salvation in case of an oil supply crisis.
They are part of the range of crisis instruments which the government can use in the event of a national supply crisis.
They can equally be put on the market at the request of the international community for the benefit of other member states of the European Union or of the International Energy Agency.