The International Organization for Migration opened a tender in Chad for a one-year long term agreement for the supply and delivery of diesel, closing on 18 November 2026. UNICEF is seeking a three-year agreement for fuel in Mali, UNHCR ran fuel supply framework agreements in Burkina Faso that closed on 24 March 2026, and Mauritania's power utility SOMELEC published a tender for transporting diesel in four lots.

Public buyers and international organisations are used to these documents. Mines, manufacturers and power producers much less so. Yet a badly written tender produces offers that cannot be compared, or drives serious suppliers away. Here is how to write one.

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1. Split into lots

One lot per product and per delivery point: diesel delivered to site A, diesel delivered to port B, CST 180 fuel oil for the power plant. A single "all fuel, all sites" lot shuts out specialised suppliers and produces average prices nobody can check.

2. Give volumes, even approximate ones

Price depends on volume. For each lot, state:

the estimated volume over the contract term, with a minimum and a maximum;
the rhythm: deliveries per week or per month, quantity per delivery;
the capacity of your tanks, which sets the maximum size of a delivery.

If you cannot put a number on your requirement, do it before launching the tender: our article on diesel consumption in mining gives the method.

3. Write the specification as limits

Cite a standard, EN 590 or the national standard of the country of delivery, and the values that matter to you: maximum sulphur, density, minimum flash point, water content. Require a certificate of analysis for every lot and say who carries out the inspection. Our guide to the diesel certificate of analysis gives the limits line by line.

4. Impose a price formula, not a price

This is the clause that changes everything. A twelve-month fixed price forces every supplier to guess the oil price and hedge with a safety margin: you pay that margin, and the supplier who guessed wrong stops delivering.

Instead, impose the same formula on every bidder:

price = published quotation over a set period + premium offered by the bidder

Several models exist. A UK government framework agreement takes the average of Platts quotations for the month before delivery. Some North American public bodies set a base index at tender opening and then adjust each month by the difference with the published index, sometimes only beyond a 5 % move. The principle is the same: the quotation is common to everyone, only the premium is compared.

The mechanism is explained in Platts plus premium.

5. Specify the delivery

The delivery point: your site, your depot, or a port. For a port, the Incoterm: CIF, DAP.
The unit of measurement: litres at 15 °C or tonnes, and how the quantity is measured on receipt. Read diesel tonnes to litres.
The lead time between order and delivery, and the penalty for late delivery.
Site access: road, hours, security, any escort.

6. Be realistic about payment

Payment terms go straight into the premium. Payment at 90 days with no security costs more than a documentary credit, because the supplier must finance the fuel for three months and carry the risk. Say clearly what you offer: documentary credit, down payment, payment on delivery, credit period, bank guarantee. And ask bidders to price their premium for those terms.

7. Ask for the right documents

Company registration and references for comparable supplies.
Permits: in many countries, importing or selling fuel requires a licence. Check what your country's law requires of the supplier.
Proof of access to product: a contract with a depot, a refinery or a trader. Our article fuel trading: who really has the product explains why.
Transport and delivery means, or contracts with hauliers.

8. Announce your evaluation criteria

State in the document how you will choose, and with what weighting: technical compliance (pass or fail), premium offered, delivery capacity, lead time, guarantees offered. Announced criteria produce offers built to meet them.

Mistakes that drive serious suppliers away

A one-year fixed price with no indexation formula.
No volume, or a volume "on demand" with no minimum.
A bid deadline of a few days for a cargo.
Long payment terms with no security, in a country short of hard currency. We cover that case in dollar shortage: how to pay for and secure fuel imports.

Frequently asked questions

How do I write a fuel supply tender?

Split into lots by product and place, give volumes, write the specification as limits, impose a common price formula (quotation plus premium), specify delivery, measurement and payment, ask for the right documents and announce your evaluation criteria.

Should I ask for a fixed or an indexed price?

An indexed price under a common formula: the quotation is the same for everyone, and only the premium is compared. A one-year fixed price includes a risk margin that you pay.

What is a long term agreement for fuel supply?

A framework agreement that sets, for a given period, the price formula, the specification and the delivery terms, with the buyer then placing orders as needed. International organisations use it routinely.

What we do

GRACECORP AMD GROUP bids on tenders for the supply of diesel, gasoline, Jet A-1, CST 180 fuel oil and bitumen. In West Africa we deliver by road tanker from our own depots or those of our partners in Dakar, Abidjan, Lomé or Cotonou, depending on availability; elsewhere in Africa, by ship to your port, from 2,000 tonnes. Our offers follow an international quotation plus a stated premium, with a certificate of analysis for every lot.

Invite us to your tender or see our fuel offer.

Sources: UNGM, IOM notice for a long term agreement for the supply and delivery of diesel in Chad (closing 18 November 2026), UNICEF notice for a three-year long term agreement for fuel in Mali and UNHCR notice in Burkina Faso (closing 24 March 2026); SOMELEC, tender document for transporting diesel in four lots; UK government Contracts Finder, fuel supply framework agreement (Platts element averaged over the month before delivery); New Jersey Department of Transportation, fuel price adjustment clause (no adjustment below a 5 % index move); Manitoba Infrastructure, monthly diesel price index clause.

Fuel supply tender: how to write one that gets real offers