By:Hertha Ekandjo
The mines ministry has urged motorists not panic about the diesel supply in the country as it is still sufficient, and that the country awaits a fuel vessel to arrive shortly.
This comes after a social media post stating that the country was running low on diesel supply went viral, causing panic among motorists on Wednesday evening.
“There is no need to panic in as far as fuel shortage in the country is concerned. We want to confirm as a ministry that there is sufficient fuel currently in the country, and there has been what we refer to as intermitted supply. This was actually due to a slight delay regarding the arrival of the vessel,” said the mines and energy ministry`s spokesperson Simon Andreas.
He added that even though there has been a delay in the arrival of the vessel, it is on route to Namibia and will be arriving in a day or two.
Andreas said the ministry was not only relying on that specific vessel, but “there is currently fuel in storage.”
“Even if that vessel doesn’t come, it is not to say that there won’t be any fuel. The vessel is just coming to add to what we already have in storage here. There is enough supply and we can ensure the nation that there won`t be any issues regarding the oil supply,”he explained.
The confusion regarding the shortage of diesel was mainly brought up because of the over-purchase of diesel, he added. “Whatever stock we have of diesel, there was an over-purchase of it. In fact, we have more people wanting the fuel now than ever before”.
He said that with media reporting that there would be a shortage of diesel supply in the near future following OPEC cutting on its oil production, “it seems people were purchasing fuel with the aim of storing it.”
“We just experienced an over purchase this time on diesel as opposed to petrol,” he explained.
Meanwhile, the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) spokesperson Paulo Coelho said that diesel currently in the country can last over a week, while awaiting the arrival of the “late” vessel.
“Namcor is aware of the fact that there is a current shortage in the country, but it is not a complete lack of supply and it is not yet critical,” Coelhosaid .
He said that they have planned ahead and have vessels in that water that are to arrive soon and the public should not panic.
According to him, the national oil storage facility was designed to ensure stock for the country within 30 days should no supply be coming in.
“We have a capacity of 75 million litres of stock, so I can assure you that we still have some supply left,” he added.
Diesel Shortage Not Yet Critical – Mines Ministry, Namcor
