Trafigura acquires BP’s assets in Namibia, Botswana and Zambia

Trafigura acquires BP’s assets in Namibia, Botswana and Zambia
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Mon 08 Nov. 2010, 03:59 CAT

INTERNATIONAL oil trader Trafigura has bought BP's assets in the southern African nations of Namibia, Botswana and Zambia. Trafigura, controversial commodities conglomerate and the third-largest independent oil trader in the world, has bought BP’s assets in a deal, struck through the Trafigura subsidiary, Puma Energy International.

According to Namibia’s leading newspaper – The Namibian, that country’s mines and energy minister Isak Katali confirmed the deal.

Trafigura, accused of kickbacks in South Africa and found guilty of illegally exporting toxic waste from Amsterdam before reportedly dumping it in the Ivory Coast, has recently been named in a high-powered ploy to try and secure the contract to supply half of Namibia’s fuel.

The newspaper gave no amount for the sale, which it said had been confirmed by Katali.

BP has committed to sell up to $30 billion of non-core assets to pay for its devastating oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico this year.

A spokeswoman for BP in Johannesburg, Glenda Zvenyika, said the company was in talks to sell assets in the three countries, as well as Malawi and Tanzania, but no decision had been made.

“BP is in the process of selecting a buyer for its assets in five African countries and that's all there is at the moment. Before we make an announcement on the deal, these reports are just speculation,” said Zvenyika.

Namibian state-owned petroleum corporation Namcor had bid $93.1 million to buy BP's assets in the country, but failed to secure backing from the government.

Last March, BP Africa announced that BP Zambia Plc, the country's biggest oil marketing company (OMC), is being sold as BP Africa sells 75 per cent of its business in Botswana, Namibia, Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia while focusing on refining and marketing investment in South Africa and Mozambique.

BP Zambia Plc controls about 40 per cent of the total domestic oil marketing sector and is a key supplier of oil and lubricants to the key economic sectors like mining, manufacturing and agriculture, and controls about 75 per cent of the aviation oil segment.