Zimbabwe to Import Oil from Equatorial Guinea

Zimbabwe has struck a deal to import crude oil from Equatorial Guinea and is planning to reopen a refinery to process fuel and ease acute shortages, state media reported on Monday.

Crunch shortages of fuel, foreign currency and food are a sign of the southern African nation's deep economic crisis, blamed on President Robert Mugabe's policies, and also marked by the highest inflation rate in the world at nearly 8,000 percent.

The official Herald newspaper reported on Monday that Zimbabwe had signed a deal to buy crude oil from Equatorial Guinea, with which it has forged close ties after it helped foil an alleged coup in the oil-rich west African country in 2005.

Zimbabwe agreed in 2005 with Iran to revive an oil refinery built using Iranian technology in the 1960s. Work at the refinery has not started to date.