Zimbabwe: Strausse Logistics Creates Problem for Oil Company Deal
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Tuesday, 29 December 2009 |
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Engen Petroleum's bid to acquire all interests owned by BP Zimbabwe and
Shell Zimbabwe in a US$16 million joint venture deal faces a major
hitch as third parties have begun to lay claims on BP amounting to
US$20 million, it has emerged.
Engen has made a bid for BP/Shell's Zimbabwe refined petroleum
marketing assets, jointly with KenoilKobil, a South Africa-based
consortium of indi-genous petro-chemical inve-stors. The deal also
involves buying out 15 percent interest currently held by BP/Shell's
local senior management. Shell has been operating in Zimbabwe under a
management contract with BP.
But Strausse Logistics, a Zim-babwean indigenous refined petroleum
products marketing company, is now standing in the way of the deal
saying it cannot go ahead until BP/Shell clears its outstanding
obligations under fuel supply deals struck last year when the country
was experiencing acute fuel shortages.
Inside sources allege that the liabilities emerged after BP Zimbabwe's
senior management negotiated fuel supply deals with indigenous
importers after BP International reached a decision to stop importing
fuel into Zimbabwe.
This opened the business to underhand deals that involved the use, by
some senior executives, of BP's infrastructure, fuel pumps and other
equipment, to sell privately imported fuel to BP's clients for personal
gain.
The cat came of out of the bag when Strausse and other suppliers learnt
of the BP/Shell asset sale and purchase agreement, which was signed in
July last year, and initiated efforts to recover their dues, most of
which turned out to be secret deals by the company's top management.
The axe has already fallen on two senior managers (names supplied) who
were suspended last month after BP's regional office, based in Cape
Town, South Africa, ordered a special investigation into the fuel
scam. As a result of the shocking findings, the local senior
management team has been taken out of the negotiations and replaced by
officials from BP Zambia who have been assigned to manage the
transitional process. It could not immediately be established how the
deal will now proceed given the emergency of the contingent liabilities.
The Engen/-Kenoil-Kobil-BP/Shell deal has also sparked a strong
reaction from local indigenous marketers of refined petroleum products
who argue that the deal runs up against Zimbabwe's Indigenisation and
Empowerment Act as it denied them the chance to express their interest.
PetrolWorld 201209 Source : SB-AAfrica
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