By MOZTIMES
Maputo (MOZTIMES) – Despite panic buying of petrol and diesel at fuel stations in Maputo and Matola, the Mozambican government has insisted that there is no genuine fuel shortage in the country.
Rumours of an imminent fuel crisis spread on Friday, with claims that only a few days’ worth of liquid fuel were left in the country. Long queues of vehicles built up at Maputo fuel pumps, and continued into Saturday morning.
The Mozambican authorities reacted by assuring the public that, despite the US/Israeli aggression against Iran, and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Mozambique is in no imminent danger of running out of fuel.
By the time of the denial some Maputo fuel pumps had run dry. Some motorists told journalists they had to visit three or more stations before finding any petrol.
The National Directorate of Hydrocarbons and Fuel, which is part of the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy, tried to calm the situation, guaranteeing that there is no genuine shortage of fuel.
The main rumour spread on Friday was that the operational reserves of fuel in the country would only last for 12 days. Although this might have been true on the day it was reported, 24 March, the Directorate insisted that by the weekend, the fuel stations were being resupplied normally.
The fuel supply contract is valid until May 2027, and the Directorate was sure this would ensure continuity of supplies.
While it is true that most of the fuel imported by Mozambique passes through the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian closure of the Strait supposedly does not affect oil tankers already on the high seas, en route to Mozambican ports.
The directorate said that new deliveries of fuel should arrive in the port of Maputo on 30 March. These deliveries will provide a further 26 days’ supply of petrol and 17 days of diesel. More tankers are due to arrive in April.
The Mozambican Association of Fuel Companies (Amepetrol) agreed with the Directorate and said there was no imminent risk of the country running out of fuel. It issued a statement on Friday claiming that the situation is under control, and urging motorists to avoid behaviour that might put the supply chain under pressure.
Amepetrol said there is fuel available at the oceanic terminals in the major ports. Usually, these terminals are closed over the weekend, but exceptionally they were allowed to open on Saturday to speed up the dispatch of fuel to the retail market, and to reduce pressure on the petrol stations.
New deliveries of fuel should arrive in the port of Maputo on 30 March. These deliveries will provide a further 26 days’ supply of petrol and 17 days of diesel. More tankers are due to arrive in April.
So far the government has taken no measures to ration fuel, and prices remain unchanged at 83.57 meticais or a litre of petrol and 79.88 meticais for a litre of diesel. The government has even promised that there will be no increase in fuel prices until at least May.
On 25 March, the Minister of Planning and Development, Salim Valá, told reporters that the government is closely monitoring the situation in the Middle East, keeping in contact with international partners to monitor the oil market.
“At this moment there are no signs that there could be a price increase, considering that there we have some fuel reserves. More imported fuel should arrive in the country in the coming weeks. We have no information to the contrary", Vala said.
Data released by the government indicates that, in the second week of March, the country had just over 85,000 tonnes of fuel stored in ocean terminals, volumes considered sufficient to guarantee the supply of the domestic market until the end of April. (MT)
