On April 26, the Minister of Energy Gaston Eloundou Essomba launched an open international consultation for the selection of oil trading firms that will supply petroleum products to local importers.
“The said consultation is open to international oil trading firms and involves the Ship to Ship supply of 390,000 metric tons [of petroleum products] for July, August, and September 2021,” the official explains.
Interested parties can submit their offers for one or many of the following lots: Lot A (150,000 metric tons of super), Lot B (210,000 metric tons of gas oil), and Lot C (30,000 metric tons of fuel-oil 3500).
They have till May 7, 2021, for submission and the final bid price will be the average of the quotations published by Platt’s European Makertscan under the heading cargo/FOB MED (for super and Gasoil) and CIF (for fuel-oil 3500) plus the premiums.
Since the May 31, 2019 fire that destroyed part of its refinery SONARA, Cameroon has changed its petroleum products’ acquisition strategy. It now selects traders (through international tender procedures) that will supply the domestic market for a set period.
The selected traders supply large quantities of petroleum products in Cameroonian waters and sell them to local marketers and importers.
For the tender procedures, the main selection criterion is the competitiveness of the premiums. According to Minister Gaston Eloundou Essomba, thanks to that new strategy, about XAF150 billion are saved annually.
To date, Nigerian group Sahara Energy has always been the primary contractor selected by Cameroon for those supplies. The three runner-ups are usually Swiss groups Vitol, Addax Energy, and Petra Energy SA.
