Tanzanians warned of imminent fuel crisis

Tanzanian motorists and industrialists were warned on Wednesday to brace up for imminent fuel crisis in the country in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

BP Tanzania, one of the major petrol and diesel providers in the country, predicted that oil prices were likely heading toward the 70-US-dollar-per-barrel threshold in the coming weeks after they touched an all-time high of 68 dollars a barrel.

The fact that Hurricane Katrina has devastated one of the world's top petroleum bases in the Gulf of Mexico has fueled fears that the international oil market would become all the more volatile.

BP Tanzania External Affairs Manager Frederick Kibodya has advised government and related sectors to embark on a short-term plan to avert the looming oil crisis as the ripple-effect precipitated by the disaster.

Katrina contributed to the problem but there are other factors like the laws of demand and supply and instability in the Middle East, according to Kibodya.

"It is crunch time for the fuel industry in Tanzania, which calls for efficient use of the stocks that we have," said Kibodya."I advise users to minimize consumption by avoiding traveling at rush hours and using alternative sources of energy such as gas. Car owners should also consider using public transport."

As of Wednesday, unleaded petrol is selling at between 1,120 and 1,195 Tanzanian shillings (0.99-1.05 US dollars) a liter in Dar es Salaam where a liter of diesel is sold for between 1,075 and 1,095 shillings (0.95-0.97 dollars).

Source: Xinhua