MOZAMBIQUE IS RUNNING OUT OF FUEL

A senior official in the Mozambican Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy has denied rumours that the country is about to run out of fuel.Speaking to reporters on Monday, in an interval during a regional seminar on reducing the sulphur content of liquid fuels, the National Director of Hydrocarbons and Fuel, Moises Paulino, dismissed rumours in social media that the country’s reserves of fuel will soon be exhausted because the importing companies cannot pay the suppliers.Paulino said there is plenty of fuel in the reserves in the country’s three main ports, and resupplying is continuing to occur normally.“In the Maputo oceanic terminal we have a reserve margin of 20 to 25 days until the next resupply ships arrive”, he said. “In Beira there are reserves for 15 to 20 days, and in Nacala the quantities available are enough for the same period”.He also denied the social media rumour that there are tankers anchored in the ports which are not unloading their cargoes because the Mozambican state fuel company, Petromoc, is unable to give guarantees of payment.Paulino pointed out that the fuel distribution network in Mozambique is owned by several companies and not just Petromoc. He insisted that there is no interruption in supply.Paulino put total imports of liquid fuels at 1.2 million cubic metres a year, an amount which has been increasing as the number of vehicles on Mozambican roads increases.