Libyan fuel begins arriving

The Zimbabwean radio news website, monitored by the BBC, reported on Saturday that the country had begun receiving fuel from Libya following an agreement between the two governments. The first consignment of fuel began being pumped from the Mozambican port of Beira earlier in the week, the report said.

According to the report, in terms of the agreement, Tamoil, a Libyan-owned company, is to supply US $360 million worth of fuel to the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (NOCZIM). Nicholas Kitikiti, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Mines and Energy, was quoted as saying that the fuel would meet 70 percent of Zimbabwe’s normal fuel requirements. He said negotiations were also under way between NOCZIM and a Monaco-based Libyan company, Oil-Invest, to form a joint-venture oil company which would be involved in fuel import and retail in Zimbabwe.

According to the report, the deals with the two Libyan companies and NOCZIM would be financed by the Libyan Arab Foreign Bank. Zimbabwe would be paying in Zimbabwe dollars. Kitikiti was quoted as saying that Zimbabwe, which has been faced with high premiums associated with high risk, had been given the best offer. Besides fuel supplies from Libya, NOCZIM would continue getting petroleum products from Petronas of Malaysia through Engen of South Africa. The supplies would be paid for through current and future exports to Malaysia, the report said.