Angola launches new tender for 1 year supply of gasoline and diesel - statement

LONDON (Reuters) - Angola's state oil firm Sonangol has launched a tender for gasoline and diesel imports for one year starting July 1, the company said in a statement.

Oil major Total and Geneva-based commodities trader Trafigura have been supplying the country with fuel since winning the last tender in 2019. Sonangol said in the statement released on Wednesday that the process had started on April 1 and that 27 companies had pre-qualified.

A source familiar with the process added that the submission deadline for bids was April 14.

Trading firms have been battling for a share of the lucrative contract since the country began opening up to cut costs.

For years, Trafigura had an effective monopoly on fuel supplies to the African nation but President Joao Lourenco has been shaking up the old order since taking power in 2017.

Along with Total, Glencore was a tender winner in 2018, taking over from Trafigura and Vitol who had edged into the country earlier to supply gasoline in 2016.

Sonangol has close ties to Trafigura via a significant stake in Trafigura's retail and midstream company, Puma Energy, which it is in the process of divesting.

(Reporting by Andrew Heavens)

By Julia Payne