The Sudanese minister of oil, Makkawi Mohamed Awad, has acknowledged shortage of gasoline and cooking gas saying that the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS) should urgently provide foreign exchange for importing those oil products. He disclosed that they typically import 180,000 metric tons of gasoline as well as 3.7 million metric tons of other oil products including gasoline, cooking gas, and jet fuel for domestic consumption.
Awad, who testified before a parliamentary subcommittee on Tuesday, pointed to the lack of trucks for transferring gasoline to South Darfur states capital of Nyala besides malfunctions in Nyala’s oil warehouse resulting from lack of spare parts. Several MPs revealed that a ship loaded with gasoline that does not match the standards has docked in Port Sudan and questioned lack of transparency with regard to oil exploration contracts, saying that exploration rights are restricted to three companies only.
They also raised questions about the ownership of a $35 million factory in the city of Atbara owned by Asawer company which is a subsidiary of the state-owned Sudan Petroleum Company (Sudapet). The MPs further criticized the oil ministry for failure to meet the shortage in oil products including gasoline, cooking gas, and jet fuel in the states of Khartoum, Kassala, Darfur, and Kordofan. They also warned against failure to pay financial arrears of foreign oil companies and imposing 2% insurance fees prior to opening letters of credits, saying that it would make them halt their activities.
The lawmakers also pointed to the failure of some companies to begin their exploration work due to lack of technical and financial ability, demanding uniformity in price of oil products price in all states. They warned against disputes among several states over ownership of some oilfields, revealing that oil warehouse in Gedaref state has not received oil products for more than 45 days.
