"Fuel supplies in Mozambique are precarious and are already putting supplies at risk during the Christmas and summer vacation periods," the operators warned in a letter sent last week to the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Carlos Zacarias.

According to the document that the newspaper "Carta" had access to, the current shortage stems from the fact that all the operators are in a cash crisis and some are financially insolvent, which means that they are unable to guarantee the normal supply of fuel to the market.

"Fuel prices were last published on December 1, 2022, outside the period established by Decree 89/2019. The new price structure continues to see an increase in unit averages, increasing the debt that the government has accumulated with the operators. This debt is estimated at over three hundred and fifty million dollars," reads the document quoted by "Carta".

The letter has been sent at a time when the Mozambican Association of Oil Companies (AMEPETROL) has been sending several letters to the government, but unfortunately has not received any replies.

To prevent the worst from happening, the operators request in a letter that "in December 2022, the government guarantees the price of publication in accordance with Decree 89/2019, and that the unit averages to be published do not continue to increase the government's debt to the operators".

In addition, the entrepreneurs are asking the government to increase the real price of diesel from 87.97 Meticais per liter to 96.77 per liter and petrol from 86.97 Meticais per liter to 91.01 Meticais per liter, in order to avoid increasing the government's debt to the operators. (Letter)