Sao Tome, Sao Tome and Principe, 15 April – Sao Tome and Principe spent some US$19.3 million on fuel, the biggest imported product in 2010, according to the archipelago’s National Statistics Institute (INE).

Figures provided to Macauhub by INE showed that fuel imports, particularly gasoline, diesel, oil and some minerals, represented 16.2 percent of imports between January and December of last year, at a total cost of US$19.3 million.

Agricultural products, with 15.6 percent and the equivalent of US$18.6 million and food products with 14.1 percent, and US$16.8 million, were the next largest groups of imports.

In 2009, fuel was the second-biggest import category by cost, accounting for 15.5 percent of imports, having been overtaken by agricultural products, which led the list of imports with 21.6 percent.

Angola is Sao Tome and Principe’s largest fuel supplier via state oil company Sonangol, which is the main shareholder of Sao Tome and Principe’s national fuel and oil company, ENCO.

The archipelago’s largest consumer of fuel is the country’s water and electricity company, EMAE, which has the monopoly on electricity sales in Sao Tome and almost 80 percent of its production is based on fuel. (macauhub)