From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 13, no. 4, December 1998.

What could be the impact on Tonga of the merging of Mobile Oil and Exon?

Stalini Naufahu, the president of Three Stars, a Tongan company that is the sole distributor of Mobile Oil in Tonga said, “very little in the immediate future, but the good news for Tonga is that Mobile is going to build six major distributing centres in the region,  and they are awaiting for a go-ahead from the Tongan Government.”

Stalini said that a Tank Farm had been one of the wishes of   the King, “If the Mobile proposal is approved by government, then construction will start immediately here in Tongatapu.”

Stalini was hopeful that government would accept Mobile’s proposal because he feels that it is a very generous offer by Mobile, considering that Tonga’s annual consumption is only about 32 million litres per annum.

The advantage for Tonga Stalini said, “is because the tanker will come straight from Singapore to Tonga, then we won’t have to pay the added on cost for the transhipment through Fiji.”

Stalini’s company, Three Stars is the sole distributor of fuel in the Vava’u group and in the Niuas.

The other oil companies that are supplying the rest of Tonga are, Shell, British Petroleum and Tonga Oil.