european edition - ErpecNews

NEwS – MIddLE EaSt, aFrICa & aSIa
8
air zimbabwe
out of fuel
Zimbabwe's debt-ridden national airline
has cancelled flights to London and
South Africa because fuel companies
have cut off its supplies because of
unpaid bills. A senior manager at the
troubled carrier confirmed the flight
cancellations. “We had no option but to
cancel London flights because suppliers
refused to give us fuel for the trip”, the
Manager said. “London-to-Harare flights
were also cancelled.” Air Zimbabwe GM
Innocent Mavhunga would not deny that
the groundings were a result of failure
to pay fuel suppliers. “I would not want
to comment on that”, he said.
E5 too expensive in
Viatnam
While the government is encouraging the
development of ethanol petrol products,
in the Environment Law to be applied
as of 2012, it is still listed as a product
that bears high environment tax rate.
This explains why E5 petrol remains
too expensive to attract users. Research
conducted by the Hanoi University of
Technology showed that using E5 users
can save 5 percent of fuel in comparison
with petrol. Also that it is less costly to
use E5 petrol, because it can prolong the
life of some parts of the engine.
City pumps run dry
in Lahore, Pakistan
Petrol shortage at almost all stations in
the city continued with its effects being
felt all over the Punjab metropolis. Many
of the affected stations were either “shut”
or limited their services. Petrol station
workers had no answer to when a solution
would be found. “We have no petrol”, was
the only answer they had. Fuel seekers
were rushing from one petrol station to
another. The franchises of the oil marketing
companies TOTAL and Caltex have
totally run dry; even Shell Pakistan only
delivered fuel to about 20 percent of its
filling stations.
Qatari firms shift focus to Jordan
With political and social upheavals taking
place in Syria, its neighbour Jordan, is fast
emerging as a favourite destination of some top
Qatari companies that had lined up big-time
projects in Damascus. State-backed Qatar
Fuel (Woqod) which is the sole distributor of
petroleum products in Qatar and also runs a
LatESt NEwS, EVENtS, JObS ONLINE – www.PEtrOLPLaza.COM
large number of petrol and service stations
across the country, had planned to build and
operate a network of petrol stations in Syria.
But the company, according to a local daily,
has shelved its plans due to political and social
unrest rocking Syria and has instead decided
to shift the project to Jordan.
Shell Ghana launches new diesel fuel
Shell Ghana introduced its New Shell Diesel
Extra fuel containing fuel economy formula.
The new fuel contains unique formulation
designed to give Ghanaian motorists extra
kilometres at no extra cost and it is specifically
developed for all vehicles. Omar Benson,
Managing Director of Shell Ghana Limited
said: “We are committed to delivering better
fuels around the world and have been working
to develop fuels to address motorists’ needs for
improved fuel economy. Wide-ranging research
has shown that many of our customers want
fuels, which are going to take them further
without having to pay more.”
Ptt switches focus to overseas growth
PTT will focus on regional growth, having
reached the limit in domestic expansion,
with the aim of becoming the second-largest
petrochemicals player behind national brands
in some countries within five years. Saran
Rangkasiri, Executive Vice President of
PTT, said the company would maintain the
number of PTT petrol stations in Thailand
at about 1 300. Overseas expansion would
be one of the company's major strategies
in the next three to five years. “Neighbouring
markets, such as Cambodia, Laos and
Myanmar [Burma], have no oil-refinery
facilities in the country and they need to
import finished oil from our country”, he
said. “Opening our PTT petrol stations in
their markets will help release our surplus
oil and add value to our products.”
Nigeria's Oando plans private placement
Nigerian energy firm Oando said it planned
to issue 25 percent of its share capital
through a private placement to finance
acquisitions. The energy firm, which has
1.8 billion shares in issue, is worth 94 billion
naira as at 6th June. It said proceeds
from the planned sale would be used for
corporate restructuring, mergers and
acquisitions and employee compensation.
Almost a year ago, Oando said it hoped
to raise US $ 250 million by floating a
minority stake in its local fuel retail arm
on the Lagos bourse, as part of plans to
turn into a major upstream energy company
in Africa's biggest oil producing
country. Oando, which is also listed in
Johannesburg, said in a notice it would
seek approval at a shareholders meeting
at the end of June for the issue.
UaE tells retailers to stop surcharge on credit cards
Retailers in the UAE has been asked to stop
charging additional fees on credit card usage,
effective from 1st July, 2011, UAE Ministry
of Economy said in a statement. Sultan Bin
Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy
and Chairman of the Supreme Committee
for Consumer Protection, was heading the
second meeting of the committee for 2011,
which passed a resolution prohibiting retailers
from imposing surcharges on credit card
usage as commission. The meeting reiterated
the importance of decisions made by the
Ministry and the Supreme Committee for
Consumer Protection to support consumer
rights and boost economic competitiveness
and growth in the UAE.