Transfers to EDL up 62 percent in first quarter

Payments to oil suppliers rise to $532 million over surge in fuel imports in summer 2011

Treasury transfers to EDL totaled $544 million in the first three months of the year, 62 percent higher than the same period a year ago. According to figures released by the Ministry of Finance, reimbursement to the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and Algeria's Sonatrach for fuel oil and gas oil purchases totaled $532 million. The rest of the amount was paid in debt servicing.

The surge in transfers resulted from an increase of $207 million in payments to the two oil suppliers.

According to the MoF, the increase was driven by larger quantities and higher international oil prices at the time when the gas oil and fuel oil shipments were made. The payments made in the first quarter of this year are for gas oil imports in summer 2011, which were 240 percent higher than imports made in the summer of 2010 which were paid in the first quarter of 2011. Natural gas stopped flowing from November 2010, and EDL substituted this shortfall by importing gas oil, which explains the larger quantity of gas oil imported last summer.

The average oil price, according to which payments are made, is 48 percent higher than it was in the summer of 2011.

Reported by Hanadi Chami