SPO Board Chairman Gideon Zoloveke Jr, left speaking during Friday’s $61 million dividend payout. On his right is SINPF Board Chairman Peter Boyers.

SOUTH Pacific Oil (SPO) Limited is looking at building new fuel depots in Auki, Malaita Province and Gizo, Western province, in 2017 and other provinces in the following years.

This is according to SPO Board Chairman Gideon Zoloveke Jr, who briefly made the highlight during last Friday’s $61-million dividend payout to Solomon Islands National Provident Fund (SINPF).

Mr Zoloveke Jr said the challenges they face to make these objectives a reality is not only in securing hardware, but also in softer areas like IT, Human Resources, process and process controls.

He said the decision to open a depot in Noro in September, 2014 has proven to be good decision. “The challenges now is to develop into a terminal that can receive all fuels directly from overseas and sell to customers in the Western part of Solomon.

“We’ve shown that the management and staff under a very hardworking board are resilient to adverse situation, can take challenges in changes.

“So while conditions are tough today, we are well places to go on delivering energy for decades to come – and to deliver value to you, our shareholders,” said Mr Zoloveke Jr.