Sonangol, Angola’s state-run oil firm says it had awarded contracts for its refined products for the next 12 months to Total and Trafigura. In the arrangement, Total will supply Angola with petrol or gasoline while Trafigura will supply diesel and marine diesel.
This came due to the longest run of fuel shortages that hit Angola in years, which led to the sacking of Sonangol chair, Carlos Saturnino earlier this month.
According to Sonagol, the shortage was blamed on difficulties accessing hard currency as well as unpaid debts owed to the energy company by industrial clients.
Heavily reliant on oil sales for government income, Angola was hit hard by the 2014 oil price crash, which pushed its economy into recession and created foreign currency shortages that crippled business.
In the statement on Tuesday, Sonangol reported that it had issued the tender in February with nine companies bidding for the supply contracts.
The tender result marks a return to Angola for Trafigura, which for many years, enjoyed an effective monopoly on lucrative fuel supply deals with OPEC member Angola.