Anadarko Urgently Wants Armored Vehicles for Mozambique Project

MAPUTO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Anadarko Petroleum Corp. wants a fleet of at least six vehicles with armor heavy enough to stop AK-47 bullets at its natural-gas project in Mozambique. And it needs them soon.

The company called for expressions of interest from potential suppliers of so-called B6 specification vehicles, and also wants associated fleet management services, according to an advertisement published in the Maputo-based Noticias newspaper on Thursday.

Anadarko is expected to spend at least $20 billion on its project in Palma, near the Tanzanian border, where a shadowy insurgency has killed more than 100 people and destroyed hundreds of homes. The attacks reached an area a few kilometers from the company’s worker camp this month, according to local media reports.

“In order to ensure readiness for operations, there is an immediate need” for the vehicles, Anadarko said in the advertisement. The company didn’t immediately respond to a request from Bloomberg for comment.

Mozambique Capital to Shut Off Water Supply on Alternating Days
Mozambican authorities will tighten water restrictions in the capital, Maputo, and the neighboring city of Matola because dams that supply the locations have fallen to one-fifth of their capacity, the Water Ministry said.

The two cities, home to more than 2.7 million people, will cut water supplies on alternating days, the Maputo-based O Pais newspaper reported, citing Public Works, Housing and Water Resources Minister João Machatine. Levels at the Pequenos Libombos dam, the main water source, fell to 20.4 percent, from 21 percent on Jan. 23.

Reservoir levels normally rise at this time of year, after the rainy season starts in November, but precipitation has been scarce. Most parts of southern Mozambique have received less than 75 percent of the rainfall typically expected from October to early this month, according to a Jan. 23 report by the Southern African Development Community.

Last year, Cape Town in neighboring South Africa introduced severe water restrictions that helped the city narrowly avoid running out completely.

Source: Bloomberg Business News