Fuel queues, more pronounced with petrol scarcity, have resurfaced in some parts of the country but National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) has assured that supply will normalise by weekend.
The Nation spot-checks established that scores of fuel service stations in Blantyre, Zomba, Mangochi, Mwanza and Salima did not have petrol from Friday to yesterday.
Nocma has said the fuel situation is expected to ease from Friday this week when a combined 50 million litres of diesel and petrol will start arriving in the country under the government-to-government (G2G) arrangement.
Of the 50 million litres, 28 million is for petrol and is envisaged to start arriving by road from Tanga Port in Tanzania while the 22 million is for diesel and will be hauled by rail from Nacala in Mozambique.
In an interview yesterday after inspecting the loading of diesel at Petromoc base in Nacala, Mozambique, Nocma spokesperson Raymond Likambale urged calm, saying the company was doing everything possible to have the situation contained.
He said: “For Tanga, trucks have already started lifting the product into Malawi and we expect that by Friday or Saturday, they should begin arriving in Malawi. We have put in speedy processes because we know that the product is needed.
“For Nacala, you have seen it yourself that part of the product is being loaded into wagons, and this is one way of ensuring that we bring more products into the country on time. We are uplifting all products at once.”
During the tour, Petromoc officials said they had challenges with storage for petrol, a development Likambale said forced them to get the petrol through Tanga.
Transporters Association of Malawi spokesperson Frank Banda said they sent over 150 trucks to Tanga, and some started loading the product yesterday.
Nocma and Petroleum Importers Limited (PIL), a consortium of private oil marketing companies, are each supposed to import 50 percent of the country’s required volumes, but State-owned Nocma has of late been importing about 80 percent of total stocks
The Nation checks further showed that in Mzuzu, there was also a shortage of diesel while the situation was different in Lilongwe, Nkhata Bay and Karonga where the products were available.
One of the motorcycle taxi operators in Salima, Sautso Phiri, said the scarcity of fuel is crippling his day to day life because he relies on business to feed his family.
In a separate interview, Petroleum Retailers Association of Malawi chairperson Happy Jere said they were receiving enough supplies for over four weeks but the situation changed during the weekend, resulting in the stock outs.
He said for the first time in several months, his service station in Lilongwe received 4 000 litres of petrol which is the lowest volume that can be supplied as a compartment.
“Today (Monday), we are not expecting to receive petrol which shows that there is a shortage of the product,” said Jere.
When contacted yesterday, Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority spokesperson Fitina Khonje said they will provide an update on the fuel situation.
Malawi has been experiencing on-and-off fuel shortages since last year but the challenges eased for the past four months after the country started receiving products procured under government to government arrangements.
Nocma data show that Malawi uses one million litres of petrol and 850 000 litres of diesel per day, translating to a combined 55.5 million litres a month.
Malawi spends $600 million (about K1 trillion) on fuel importation per year, according to the Reserve Bank of Malawi. In total, the country needs $3 billion to meet its import requirements against earnings of $1 billion.
Additional reporting by Lovemore Khomo and Greenwell Kayuni
