East African Business Week

DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA- The Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) last week short listed seven out of 25 companies to supply 35,000 tonnes of petroleum products to the newly formed state-owned Commercial Petroleum of Tanzania (COPEC).
 TPDC aimed at curbing distortion of fuel prices in Tanzania by importers.
Only one of the seven short listed companies is a local while the rest are foreign companies. The successful firm will undertake to import the fuel and sale to other fuel marketing companies and retail at common pump prices.
 The Director of Marketing and Investments of TPDC, Dismas Fuko, said that, "some 25 companies had expressed interest in the tender, but only the seven companies submitted bids," Mr Fuko.
 He said a technical evaluation committee will scrutinize the seven tenders to pick one firm that will be required to import and supply fuels to the COPEC - a subsidiary of the TPDF.
Although procurement regulations require tendering processes to be done in 90 days, but the Government is determined to finalize in a short time of one week due to the 'business climate'.
The companies that submitted the bids include the Bahama's based Independent Petroleum Group Limited and Galawa Petroleum Limited; the local firm Prevail Technologies Tanzania Limited; Trafigura PTE and Addax Energy SA Geneva - registered both in Singapore and Switzerland; Vitol SA Geneva and Augusta SA Geneva of Switzerland.
Mr Fuko said the evaluation committee will consider a number of criteria to award the tender such as the price and competence to import oil consignment.
COPEC was established in 1999, but it was not until last month that it was granted a licence to sell wholesale fuel by the Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (EWURA). The firm has only five operating fuel stations acquired from BP Tanzania.
"In addition, we have also signed a contract with two fuel stations operated by other dealers," Mr Fuko said.
The refusal by oil marketing companies to sell petroleum products at reduced pump prices in early August and creating a shortage of the strategic product countrywide, prompted the Government to revive its plan operationize COPEC.
I will be in place for three years to ensure the system is managed properly.  Prior to this state move the Government formed and inaugurated a nine-member bulk procurement technical committee comprising TPDC, fuel dealers and EWURA to oversee the new arrangement for oil purchasing - the Bulk Procurement System.