Oryx at Las Palmas port: collapse in Mauritania squeezes Addax Energy’s monopoly
Mauritania’s energy strategy is going through a critical moment after a partial collapse of the expansion works for the hydrocarbon storage complex in Nouakchott. The incident, triggered by light rainfall recorded in late July 2026, exposed serious failures in infrastructure under construction carried out by Addax Energy —a subsidiary of the Swiss group Oryx Energies based in the Las Palmas port. The project, worth 100,000 cubic metres, was awarded in October 2023 and is intended to ease the Saharan nation’s reserve capacity deficit.
The fire has rekindled a political storm in the Mauritanian Parliament. Opposition sectors, led by MP El-Id Ould Mohamed, have demanded the immediate formation of a parliamentary fact-finding commission to scrutinise the public tenders awarded to Addax, describing the process as a “crime against the people” driven by a tailor-made set of technical tender specifications. The allegations claim representatives of the Swiss company itself may have directly intervened in drafting the bill of charges, removing restrictive clauses that would otherwise have prevented it from being qualified for the construction and exclusive supply contract.
Operational monopoly and opacity in supplies from Las Palmas
The on-the-ground incident adds to the controversy surrounding the deal signed between the state electricity company SOMELEC and Addax Mauritania. The multinational firm effectively holds the monopoly over the supply of refined products (including diesel, fuel oil and gasoline) in Mauritania—a market where logistical fragility and historically limited storage capacity have acted as barriers for other international operators.
The disclosure of parallel agreements, kept out of public view, to feed the country’s power plants has fuelled debate over the state’s room for manoeuvre against a single private trader. While contract defenders argue that Oryx/Addax’s global logistics infrastructure has prevented major shortages during periods of international volatility, the lack of competition exposes Mauritania’s economy to high risks of price dependency, payment timelines and operational continuity.
The clash between the gas transition and the refining gap
The scandal erupts during Mauritania’s energy transition period. Despite the country betting its economic future on the exploitation of the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) offshore natural gas mega-field—developed by BP, Kosmos Energy and the state-owned SMHPM—and on early plans for green hydrogen, the energy mix for everyday use remains tied to imported fuel oil and diesel.
Paralysis of the new storage infrastructure jeopardises official plans to reduce vulnerability in the supply chain ahead of the gradual shift toward generation by gas. In the event of further delays or judicial reviews of the Addax contracts, Mauritania faces severe operational rigidity, where the logistics of diverting vessels from regional secondary depots (such as those in Senegal, or mid-Atlantic hub ports like Las Palmas) would end up driving up the national energy bill.
Ramifications in mid-Atlantic logistics
The deterioration of technical credibility and contractual control in Nouakchott reverberates across Africa’s Atlantic façade and connected logistics nodes, including the Canary Islands. The port facilities of Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, along with the bunkering platforms at the Strait of Gibraltar, traditionally function as anchoring, provisioning or contingency discharge points for tanker vessels handling traffic of refined products to West Africa.
The potential opening of parliamentary investigations and the possible forced renegotiation of the terms of Addax’s supply agreements in the coming months will compel a reshuffling of hydrocarbon acquisition flows across the region. For investors and international partners, the outcome of this crisis will gauge the Mauritanian Government’s ability to balance the urgency of immediate energy supply with the requirement for legal transparency and strategic independence.
The entry of Oryx at the Las Palmas port—collapse in Mauritania squeezes Addax Energy’s monopoly—was first published at canarymaritime.com.
