The cost of importing fuel into Mozambique will increase four times according to a comparison of the average prices proposed by companies participating in the last two tenders launched by the Mozambican Oil Importer (IMOPETRO).

From the tender launched late last year it was found that the average price offered by the companies was $44.93 per metric ton and in the most recent tender the average bid is $180.30 per metric ton.

The previous tender had eight bidbooks sold; only seven bids reached IMOPETRO the Independent Petroleum Group (IPG) of Kuwait won the six-month tender that ended in June.

This last tender had five notebooks sold and the lowest bid ($146.36 per metric ton), which earned the contract, was made by Totsa, a subsidiary of TotalEnergies.

Other than the average, from a tender price standpoint, between the minimum and maximum, the cost of the next import also quadruples. In the last tender, the minimum price was $146.37 per metric ton, which is four times higher than $35.62 per metric ton (minimum price) in the previous tender. The highest price offered in the last tender was $256.04 per metric ton, which is five times higher than the $41.64 per metric ton, the highest price offered in the previous tender.

TotalEnergies is expected to import 575,000 metric tons in the next three months that will cover the next three months, compared to 1,190,000 metric tons of various fuels imported by IPG for seven months.

Before the current global crisis it took up to $80 million a month to import fuel into Mozambique, but now the figure has risen to about $200 million a month for the same purpose.