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Nocma, PIL say fuel stocks steady

Petroleum Importers Limited (PIL) and National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) have assured Malawians of steady fuel supply during the festive period, parrying fears of a looming fuel crisis.

While the State-owned Nocma said in a statement on Monday that more stocks are being purchased, PIL general manager Martin Msimuko said in an interview yesterday that it has adequate fuel to complement supply.

Tankers load fuel at a Nocma depot

Reads part of Nocma’s statement: “Currently more stocks are being procured in addition to the available stocks at the country’s Strategic Fuel Reserves [SFRs] from both the Beira and Dar es Salaam ports.

“Nocma would like to thus request the general public to disregard the false information circulating on social media to the effect that Nocma’s petrol reserves have been depleted.”

When asked about the available volumes the country has in its SFRs, Nocma deputy chief executive officer Helen Buluma yesterday she asked for more time but when called later she claimed she was in a meeting, as such, could not promptly respond.

Her firm assured on supplies: Buluma

Currently, Blantyre and Lilongwe reserves have a holding capacity of 25 million litres each while the Mzuzu facility holds 10 million litres.

On October 12 2021, Buluma told the Parliamentary Committee on Government Assurances that Nocma is increasing the capacity of its reserves from 60 million to 120 million litres by 2030.

Msimuko, whose company is a consortium of private oil marketing companies, yesterday allayed the fuel crisis fears, saying there is no need for Malawians to panic as there are enough stocks and that more are also being procured.

He said: “We have adequate fuel to cover the Christmas period until January so there is no need for panicking, we are okay. Malawians must be assured of that.”

Nocma procures 50 percent of the country’s fuel volumes. It is complemented by PIL.

According to Msimuko, PIL was asked by the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) in September this year to increase its monthly fuel volumes of 20 million litres to around 30 million litres to cover up for Nocma which was failing to import enough fuel.

In that regard, he said there is and will be a steady supply of fuel in the country stressing that Malawians should be at ease.

Currently, the country’s demand for fuel is 1.7 million litres per day from one million in 2015, according to Nocma.

When asked for Mera’s assessment of the fuel situation in the country and fears of a fuel increase during the festive season, Mera spokesperson Fitina Khonje yesterday asked for more time before responding.

Despite the assurances, our sister newspaper Weekend Nation, in its edition of December 11 2021, reported that there is a potential fuel crisis following a decision by Nocma to change the fuel procurement system as a bank expected to bankroll the process grew cold feet.

Sources told the publication that Trade Development Bank of Kenya, which is expected to provide financing for the supply and delivery of the fuel, has instituted its own investigations using local lawyers to interpret the High Court ruling on use of Delivered at Place Uploaded (DPU) system.

DPU has, throughout the fuel procurement process, not been part of the national discourse except for the DDU and Ex-Tank.

DDU refers to a system in which the supplier assumes all the risks for delivery of the product from external depots at the ports to various internal depots in the country.

On the other hand, DPU is a system where the seller assumes all costs and risks until the goods are unloaded at the agreed named place of destination.

The buyer is responsible for importing customs formalities.

In April 2021, the Fuel Tankers Association obtained a court order restraining Nocma from using the DDU method which they argued was illegal and in contravention of regulations; hence, preferring the Ex-Tank on the basis that it is good for local fuel haulers.

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