Petroleum Agency (ASEVA)

ASEVA (Agence de Stockage Energétique – Energie Voorraden Agentschap), previously APETRA, manages Belgium's security stocks. The agency was created by the Act of 26 January 2006 on the holding of a mandatory stock of petroleum and petroleum products and the creation of an agency to manage part of this stock (...) and became the sole manager of Belgium's security stocks from 1 April 2012.

The law of 26 January 2006 was amended on 21 December 2023 by the Law on the holding of a mandatory stock of petroleum and petroleum products, the holding of additional strategic stocks for the country’s energy supply in the event of an energy crisis, the management of a petroleum supply crisis and the organisation of ASEVA.

The change in the law also allows the agency to hold strategic stocks of energy products other than crude oil and petroleum products in the future.

Management of security stocks of crude oil and petroleum products involves the following:

• purchase of petroleum and/or petroleum products;
• contracting with registered oil companies and foreign oil companies on the provision of those products, with ASEVA having the right to purchase those products in the event of a crisis;
• purchase, construction and/or rental of storage capacity to stock the supplies ASEVA purchases as security stock.

ASEVA and its operation are financed by the so-called ASEVA contribution, which is part of the calculation of the maximum prices for petroleum products. The audit of the financial situation, the annual accounts and the correctness of the transactions to be reflected in the annual accounts with respect to the law and ASEVA's Articles of Association is entrusted to a board of auditors consisting of two members, including the Court of Audit. The Court of Audit prepares an annual report on the performance of public service tasks for the information of Parliament.

The Directorate-General for Energy of the FPS Economy sits on ASEVA's Board of Directors.

ASEVA regularly needs storage capacity in Belgium, but also in nearby EU Member States. Before a company can qualify to store ASEVA stocks, storage facilities must be registered with the Directorate-General for Energy of the FPS Economy and meet certain conditions. The following registration form (DOC, 44 KB) must be submitted to the Directorate-General for Energy at the following email address: petrole-fapetro@economie.fgov.be. For further information, please visit ASEVA's website.

ASEVA contribution

The ASEVA contribution is the amount that companies with mineral oil excise numbers must pay directly to ASEVA for each product category when these products are released for consumption. The amount is intended to finance ASEVA's operating expenses.

This contribution is charged to the end consumer through the pricing structure of the Programme Agreement. Anyone who purchases any of the petroleum products concerned contributes to the co-financing of the ASEVA contribution through the final price.

Each quarter the Directorate-General for Energy of the FPS Economy calculates the ASEVA contribution for each product category.

The exact formula of the ASEVA contribution and the definitions of the parameters can be found in the Royal Decree of 4 October 2006 laying down the method of calculation and collection of the contribution for ASEVA.

The FPS Economy communicates the amount of the ASEVA contribution via its website at the latest 15 calendar days before the beginning of a new quarter.