Trafigura supplying oil to Enemalta up until June 2013

State energy company Enemalta has declared it employs very strict rules when it comes to the procurement of fuel, in a reaction to news that the former chief executive of MOBC, Frank Sammut, was paid a consultancy fee by Trafigura for the supply of fuel to Enemalta back in 2004.

MOBC was back then an arm of Enemalta before it was sold to the government as part of a recapitalization process.

Enemalta said that fuel is purchased through a restricted tendering procedure where an Invitation To Tender is mailed out to all suppliers listed in a specific mailing list. Tenderers must send an application consisting of the corporate profile of the organization together with at least two references of reputable organizations to whom the potential candidate had supplied fuel in the past 24 months.

The last fuel contract was awarded to Trafigura on the 20th December 2012 and the tender was for the provision of between 160,000 metric tonnes to 176,000 tonnes divided into eight parcels with a contract period from the fourth week of January and the fourth week of June 2013. Trafigura provided the cheapest offer amongst the companies that fulfilled the criteria requested by the invitation to tender.

The invitation to tender includes a list of instructions which the tenderers must be compliant with and outlines specifications of the fuel such as the quality and quantity of the product, delivery periods, and other requirements such as insurance cover, jurisdiction of contract, and payment terms.

A closing date and time is given by which all offers are to be received in a specific mailbox which is created for this purpose, and then locked by MITA before the evaluation committee session commences. 

This mailbox containing the offers is opened by the Petroleum Procurement Committee immediately after the tender closing time and the evaluation process commences immediately.  The committee, made up seven members, evaluates the offers received, taking into considerations criteria listed in the ITT documents received.

Evaluation of invitation to tenders for fuel procurement is concluded in one committee session on the date of tender closure.

Each offer is evaluated administratively and technically. Compliant bids are ranked and the evaluation then takes the form of a negotiated procedure whereby the committee negotiates via tele-conference with the respective bidders to secure the best deal possible. Contracts are awarded to the most advantageous offer.

The winning bidder is immediately notified of the tender award verbally by telephone and before meeting closure, an Email is sent out to each unsuccessful bidder. MITA are then notified to reset the password for mailbox which will not be disclosed until the following meeting.