Lusaka - French oil giant Total has sold its 50-per-cent stake in Zambia's sole petrol refinery to the government in Lusaka for 5.5 million dollars, the Times of Zambia newspaper reported Wednesday. Until now, Total and the government had shared ownership of the 36-year-old Indeni refinery, which has the capacity to produce 24,000 barrels of fuel per day.
Indeni has been plagued by technical problems and erratic supplies of late, causing acute shortages of diesel and petrol in the southern African country.
A fault at the plant brought production to a halt on October 15. The ministry of energy said it expects to resume processing on Friday.
The fuel shortages have affected the country's critical copper mining operations, which rely on diesel for production.
Zambia is Africa's largest producer of the metal, which accounts for about 70 per cent of export revenues.
