Tanzanian-based Amsons Group is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire Oryx Energies in a deal estimated at around $250 million, a move that could significantly expand the company’s influence across East Africa’s energy sector.
Reports from Geneva, Switzerland, say negotiations between the two companies have reached a high level, with industry sources claiming the transaction may already have been finalized privately. However, neither company has publicly confirmed the deal.
The proposed acquisition reportedly includes Oryx’s petroleum business, lubricant operations, and its stake in International Petroleum Reserves Limited (Tiper), one of Tanzania’s most strategic fuel storage facilities.
Tiper is jointly owned by the Government of Tanzania, through the Treasury Registrar, and Geneva-based Oryx Energies SA under a 50-50 partnership arrangement.
Located in Dar es Salaam’s Kigamboni industrial area, Tiper operates one of the largest petroleum storage terminals in Sub-Saharan Africa. The facility was originally established as an oil refinery before being converted into a major storage hub serving multiple fuel marketing companies operating in Tanzania and neighboring countries.
If completed, the acquisition would place Amsons among the region’s largest fuel distributors and petroleum storage operators, giving the Tanzanian company a much bigger presence in East Africa’s oil, lubricants, and cooking gas markets.
Energy analysts say the deal could allow Amsons to gain access to Oryx’s large fuel storage infrastructure, lubricant blending plants, and a wider network of fuel stations across the region.
The development also comes at a time when Tanzania’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) market is growing rapidly due to increasing demand for cleaner cooking energy.
For years, Oryx remained one of Tanzania’s dominant LPG suppliers, at one point controlling more than 46 percent of the local market. But the sector has changed sharply over the past five years as competition intensified, particularly from fast-growing local companies such as Taifa Gas.
The possible takeover signals another major shift in Tanzania’s private sector, where locally rooted companies have increasingly expanded into strategic industries traditionally dominated by multinational firms.
Neither Amsons Group nor Oryx Energies has officially commented on the reported negotiations.
