A deal to ship oil directly from Singapore to Tonga has been signed.
A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed by Tonga's acting prime minister, Samiu Vaipulu and the manager of Petrocean, and the owner of MT Maohi, Bill Ravel.
The oil tanker is scheduled to arrive in Nuku'alofa on the 10th of November, on its first voyage to transport oil directly from Singapore.
At present, Tonga imports oil from Fiji, worth 170 US dollars per tonne, and the agreement will reduce that cost to about 70 US dollars per tonne.
The vessel can hold more than 40-thousand tonnes of oil.
Under the agreement, the two parties are given 2 months each to review the procedures.
Mr Vaipulu told Radio Tonga news, the agreement does not limit other forms of oil imports to Tonga and is the government's way of trying to reduce the price of oil which has a direct impact on cost of electricity.
