Petrol supplies in Mozambique being normalised, importing company claims – AIM report

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Petrol supplies in Mozambique being normalised, importing company claims – AIM report

5:05 CAT | 06 Feb 2017

File photo / For illustration purposes only

Imopetro, the Mozambican company that manages fuel imports, on Monday insisted that the supply of petrol is being normalized in the central and northern provinces.

This statement, issued on Monday afternoon, was the first time Imopetro had said anything at all about the deepening fuel crisis in several Mozambican cities.

Over the weekend Chimoio, capital of the central province of Manica, had almost run out of fuel. Reporters from the independent television station STV found only one filling station in the entire city with any petrol left. Belatedly, the Manica provincial directorate of mineral resources and energy banned the sale of petrol in plastic containers – since this fuel was being resold to motorists at speculative prices.

In Nampula, the largest city in northern Mozambique, the situation was even worse. STV announced on Monday that the city had been without petrol for four days.

Imopetro’s reluctant press release declared that the restrictions on petrol supplies “were due to logistical problems, as the authorities have already told the media”.

These unspecified “logistical problems” resulted in a delay in the tanker “Pacific Beryl” unloading fuel at the Mozambican ports.

The release claimed that petrol supplies in the central provinces were returning to normal, since the ship had unloaded petrol in the port of Beira on Saturday.

As for northern Mozambique, Imopetro insisted that all would be back to normal as from Tuesday, since the “Pacific Beryl” is due to unload petrol in the port of Nacala as from Monday. Imopetro, the release added, “is making efforts to supply the entire country with fuel”.

Source: AIM