Mozambique: Contract with SGS to control mineral exports gets the greenlight from Administrative ...
File photo: Sasol
The South African petro-chemical giant Sasol has denied a report in the Mozambican media that the government cancelled a tender it had launched to hire companies to transport the light oil it plans to produce in Inhassoro, in the southern province of Inhambane.
The source for the report was the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Max Tonela, cited by the independent television station STV, who said the tender had been cancelled because it prioritised foreign companies.
This violated Mozambican legislation. The law envisages that, for this type of business opportunity, the regulatory agency, the National Petroleum Institute (INP), should be consulted, and the procurement procedures should be transparent to give Mozambican companies the chance to compete.
“The tender includes the alternative transport of light oil by truck”, noted Tonela. “These are opportunities which should first be given to Mozambican companies. That is the principle that the government defends”.
However, a statement issued by Sasol denied that any tender had been cancelled. It said that in January the company had issued a request for expressions of interest, as a first step for eligible companies to provide information of the options they propose for moving about 3,000 barrels of light oil a day.
Several companies, including Mozambican companies, had responded, the Sasol release said. Sasol then issued an invitation to some of these companies to present formal proposals. This was the second stage in the process, intended to clarify the expressions of interest, and obtain costs and calendars from the companies that would held Sasol make its selection.
Only after this phase would a formal tender be launched. Thus, according to Sasol, there has so far been no tender, merely preparations for a tender.
A tender would only be launched, it added, once the “conceptualisation” of the project was complete. At that stage there would be “full collaboration” with the INP, which Sasol says is its normal procedure.
Sasol also claims that it has never broken Mozambican laws. On the contrary, it says that it has always complied with Mozambican laws and regulations, and has sought opportunities to maximise the participation of Mozambican companies in its operations.
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