Fuel scarcity on way!!

Oil crisis looming, warns TPDC

The Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation has warned that the country was without strategic oil reserves and the national economy was in for a crisis.

According to the TPDC, the lack of oil stocks makes the production sector and the entire economy the country prone to a crisis in the event of man-made or natural calamities like tsunami.

The public corporation`s board chairman, Robert Mboma, said in Dar es Salaam yesterday that at least half of the nation`s imported oil needs should have been reserved for use during hard times.

He said before the 1999 liberalisation of oil importation the corporation used to keep some oil and other petroleum products in a reserve meant for use during emergencies.

`We (TPDC) have enough experience of almost 23 years and have the ability to supply oil on behalf of the Government and to keep oil reserves while also raising profit for the Government,` noted Mboma.

Energy and Minerals minister Nazir Karamagi said that the idea to establish the reserve after the liberalisation of the oil sector came about through a 2006 Government announcement that directed that a national Strategic Petroleum Reserves be established.

He said the decision to establish the SPR, which was presented in the National Assembly in July 18, 2006, was meant to ensure that the country faced no fuel shortages even during hard times.

Having no reserve oil stocks for emergency purposes when the petroleum supply chain was disrupted was a scenario that dictated some serious thoughts, he added.

He called for an establishment and management of the facility, saying oil was very important to the country`s security as well as economic, social and, political development.

The Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Investment and Trade in the House recently, William Shellukindo, while presenting a 2006 report in the House recently, said there was a need for the Government to support TPDC financially so that it could establish a National Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

* SOURCE: Guardian, 23 Nov 2007
By Gadiosa Lamtey

(The remarks were made during the opening of the sidelines of an oil stakeholders` workshop on the TPDC`s role in Dar es Salaam on 22/11/2007. The workshop served as a platform for stakeholders to air their views on the current arrangement under which TPDC is the sole importer of petroleum and other oil products. Stakeholders, including private oil dealers, were expected to learn guidelines from the corporation on ways to effectively participate in the oil business).

By Mosonga