The Material Reserve Agency will extend 19,500 tonnes of fuel oil to the combined heat & power (CHP) plants, under short-term borrowing arrangements, Info-Prim Neo reports. The total volume includes 1,000 tonnes for CHP-1, 17,000 tonnes for CHP-2 (both located in Chisinau), and 1,500 tonnes for CHP-North (located in Balti). As an exception to the Agency's statute, the heating oil will be distributed to the three utilities without any prepayment and borrowing fee. The repayment will be done under the terms of specific contracts concluded between the Agency and the utilities. Ion Turcanu, the Agency's general manager, said the move was a helping hand lent to the energy utilities amid the gas shortage caused by the halt in Russian gas supplies, which will enable them to continue providing consumers with heat. Yesterday, Senior Deputy Prime Minister Igor Dodon said the heating oil contained in both private and government stocks was enough to provide households and key industrial consumers with heat for another 8 to 10 days. At present the Government is in talks for the purchase of additional amounts of fuel oil from Bulgaria, Romania, and Russia, and less likely from Ukraine, which is reluctant to sell heating oil, given its domestic needs and the fact that it hasn't yet signed a contract with Russia for the supply of gas. The price of heating oil on internal stock exchanges ranges from $230 to $270 per tonne, but transportation costs will take it to above $380.