Tanzania clamps down on Nigerian firm over substandard fuel

 Tanzanians have moved against the reinstatement of a Nigerian oil firm as bulk fuel supplier after it allegedly imported substandard fuel products

The Nigerian oil firm has reportedly flouted Tanzanian regulations on proper standard of products twice in six months

Tanzanian authorities have called for a review of how the Nigerian company won the bid when it is not even

 qualified to participate in the process

 The reinstatement of a Nigerian oil company as bulk provider of fuel in Tanzania has caused huge uproar in the East African country’s oil sector. Stakeholders in Tanzania’s energy sector are against the new deal signed by the state-run Petroleum Bulk Procurement Agency (PBPA) to reinstate the Nigerian oil trader, Sahara Energy Resources DMCC to import the commodity under the Bulk Procurement System (BPS).

 They feel that the Nigerian firm is not qualified to have a new contract given that it should be facing legal actions for providing substandard fuel to the country on two separate occasions in the last six months. According to Tanzania’s Petroleum Act 2015, any supplier that presents petroleum products that are not in conformity with approved specifications will be blacklisted and not be eligible to bid for importation of petroleum products into the country for not less than six months and not more than five years.

 Reports in Tanzania’s Daily News claimed that Sahara Energy is yet to be penalised for its last infractions and should not be bidding or winning contracts to bring in more questionable products. Daily News reports that Sahara Energy was first suspended for supplying 37,000 metric tonnes of sub-standard petrol at the Dar es Salaam port after it won a tender in December 2015 to supply the country petroleum product till February 2016. It was then suspended in May when it reportedly imported contaminated Jet A-1 fuel, angering Energy and Minerals Minister, Prof Sospeter Muhongo.

 Tanzania’s Energy and Water Utility Regulatory Authority (EWURA) has already directed the PBPA to withdraw Sahara Energy’s rights to take part in the bidding process in the first place and also told it to explain how the Nigerian firm won the tender.

 Some stakeholders in the Tanzania oil sector a
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