Equatorial Guinea’s Vice-President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue on 20 October gave state oil company Gepetrol 48 hours to present a plan to become the country’s sole fuel distributor. Fuel companies and buyers from neighbouring states would purchase through its unit Gepetrol Servicios, and the state would take back strategic storage tanks now leased to the trader Tradex. The order follows the country’s third fuel shortage this year, after three distributors ran dry at once; on 16 October the government fined Total GE and Tradex about $1.7 million and $850,000. A state monopoly would pool imports and storage in one company, but it pushes out the private distributors and makes supply depend on Gepetrol’s ability to finance cargoes.
Sources
- Guinea Ecuatorial Press (official government site): https://www.guineaecuatorialpress.com/noticias/se_nguema_obiang_mangue_exige_a_gepetrol_un_master_plan_para_erigirse_como_distribuidor_unico
- AhoraEG: https://ahoraeg.com/sociedad/2026/10/21/el-vicepresidente-exige-a-gepetrol-un-master-plan-para-erigirse-como-distribuidor-unico-y-poner-fin-a-la-crisis-de-combustible/
- La Vicepress (Vice-President’s office): https://www.lavicepress.org/post/total-ge-y-tradex-pagar%C3%A1n-su-demora-en-la-adquisici%C3%B3n-de-combustible-con-sanciones-millonarias