The government call was made after price hikes were seen at many gas stations in Dar es Salaam, capital of Tanzania, and other major cities and there were rumors that there might be a shortage of fuel due to the war, local newspaper The Guardian reported Saturday.

Deputy Minister for Energy and Minerals Ibrahim Msabaha told a press conference Friday that the current fuel reserves can last 35days and the ships are bringing to Tanzania fuel that can help the country last for another 45 days.

"There is no need to panic because the government will continue to issue up-to-date information on the fuel situation," Msabaha said, adding that he had met with businessmen from major companies such as BP and Shell.

Meanwhile, he called on companies that have fuel reserves not to hoard because this could cause an artificial shortage thus oil prices would rise.

Tanzania consumes about 2.8 million liters of petroleum products every day and most of them come from Gulf countries and South Africa.

(Xinhua News Agency March 22, 2003)