Petrol Shortages Continue in Nampula

17 May 2011

Maputo — The northern Mozambican province of Nampula is continuing to face a serious shortage of petrol as it awaits the arrival of a tanker bringing supplies.

According to Tuesday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias”, fuel stations have run dry despite emergency supplies being brought in from the central city of Beira.

As a result a parallel market has sprung up, with petrol being sold at 150 meticais (4.9 US dollars) a litre, compared with the official price of just 45 meticais.

Before the fuel stations had run completely dry, steps had been taken to try and limit this type of speculation, with consumers being limited to buying 20 litres of fuel.

According to “Noticias”, the situation should return to normal with the arrival this week in the port of Nacala of the “Port Union” tanker. The Nampula Provincial Director of Mineral Resources and Energy, Moises Paulino, told reporters that the ship should dock on Wednesday with the offloading of fuel beginning on Thursday.

This is three days later than his earlier prediction that the ship would arrive in Nacala on Sunday afternoon.

Paulino blames the problem on the fact that the same ship also delivered fuel in the ports of Maputo and Beira before heading north to Nacala. He said the ship had to wait for two days before it could dock in Maputo, because there was no space in the port.

The late arrival of the tanker could also create supply problems in the northern provinces of Niassa and Cabo Delgado, as they too rely on the port of Nacala.

AllAfrica – All the Time