Fuel pipeline resumes pumping

Pumping on the Feruka-Msasa pipeline resumed on Thursday, bringing hope that the current fuel shortage would be eased while a long-term solution was being sought, Zimbabwe’s state-controlled ‘Herald’ reported. Diesel was being discharged at the Msasa storage facility and was to be delivered to oil companies for distribution, said the report. Minister of Mines and Energy Sydney Sekeramayi said sporadic supplies were not acceptable and had prompted efforts to ensure consistent and continuous deliveries. Prior to resumption of pumping, the Feruka-Msasa pipeline, which holds more than 11 million litres, was filled with diesel. More diesel would be injected into the pipeline while petrol and jet-A1 would be hauled from Feruka by road and rail, the report said, adding that if a litre of diesel was injected into the pipeline at Feruka, it would require 11,1 million more litres of diesel to be pumped before the first litre of diesel could be discharged at Msasa. Just more than 3 million litres of fuel can be pumped through the pipeline in one day. “We can only start injecting petrol or jet-A1 into the pipeline if we have enough stocks at Feruka,” said a NOCZIM official. Negotiations between bulk suppliers, Independent Petroleum Group of Kuwait, NOCZIM, the Government and NOCZIM’s financial advisers Jewel Bank, were in progress, with involved parties preferring not to comment yet, the report said. The crucial talks with IPG centered on debt payment and re-scheduling, it added. “How long we will continue pumping will depend to a large extent on our ability to pay and the understanding from the IPG delegation on debt rescheduling,” a NOCZIM official was quoted as saying. The fuel shortage became critical in the country after pumping on the pipeline stopped because of non-payment. NOCZIM has been failing to raise enough foreign currency on the local market to settle its arrears. The country’s northern areas including Harare, which depended heavily on pipeline supplies, were the worst hit by the crisis. People in the capital were forced to walk to work in the past week and industry was severely affected.