APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) Mauritius-based petroleum group, Engen, has resubmitted a proposal to buy BP and Shell Zimbabwe assets following the rejection of its initial bid by the National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Fund (NIEEF) on grounds that the deal was not consistent with Zimbabwe’s indigenisation laws, state media reports here Monday.

Engen special projects consultant Andrew Bryce said his company had submitted a new proposal that takes into account provisions of the Zimbabwe Economic Empowerment and Indigenisation Act which requires foreign investors to have local partners in their projects.

"Zimbabwe’s indigenisation law has moved on since the (BP) deal fell through. We have made a proposal that complies with the indigenisation law," Bryce told the official Herald newspaper.

Engen and East and Central Africa’s largest indigenous petroleum marketing firm KenolKobil announced last September that they had acquired BP and Shell assets and were awaiting regulatory approval.

The transaction was shot down by the NIEEF amid concerns that the deal was in violation of the country’s indigenisation laws.

Disposal of any concern should constitute 51 percent local ownership, according to the Economic Empowerment Regulations, which came into effect in February this year.

The total BP and Shell assets, that include 75 service stations, fuel depots in several towns and a Harare blending plant, are believed to be worth more than US$40 million.

BP and Shell Zimbabwe operations employ about 400 people while its Harare blending plant has a capacity of 30 million litres per year.