PetroSA freezes coal-to-liquids project 'for number of years'
engineeringnews.co.za
By: Chanel Pringle
11 Dec 08
South Africa's national oil and gas company (NOC), PetroSA, has placed its coal-to-liquids (CTL) project on hold, CEO Sipho Mkhize said on Thursday.
The project has been delayed to allow time further to investigate issues such as water availability, carbon sequestration and other infrastructure requirements, he said in a statement.
The 80 000-bl/d CTL plant was expected to start contributing to South Africa's energy supply pool by about 2020.
However, PetroSA acting head of corporate communications Thabo Mabaso told Engineering News Online that the project could possibly only be restarted "a number of years" down the line.
Minister of Minerals and Energy, Buyelwa Sonjica, reported earlier this year, that the plant could be built in the Waterberg or Springbok Flats region, in Limpopo province.
PetroSA's other refining project, a 400 000-bl/d crude oil refinery, at Coega, in the Eastern Cape, was on track, after having finally awarded the contract for an engineering partner on Monday.
The Eastern Cape refinery was pursued in response to the country's Energy Master Plan, which would improve the security of energy supply in South Africa.
PetroSA had to provide at least 30% of the country's crude oil needs by 2020, prompting it to develop its Vision 2020 growth strategy.
Meanwhile, PetroSA expected the sustainability of its Mossel Bay refinery to remain challenging in the short-to-medium term, as the indigenous reserves were being depleted.
The NOC had implemented a number of initiatives to deal with this.
This included a drilling and exploration campaign, while PetroSA was also considering buying gas from other sources.
SUSTAINABLE GROWTH
Amidst the global financial crisis, PetroSA would continue to target sustainable growth, CFO Nkosemntu Nika asserted.
"The world is facing a debilitating financial crisis that will surely impact on South Africa. Despite this crisis, PetroSA will, however, continue the drive for sustainable growth and will pursue with vigour the quest to entrench itself as a fully-integrated, globally competitive NOC," Nika said.
PetroSA reported a record R11-billion in revenue in the 2007/8 financial year. This was an increase of 23% on the R8,9-billion achieved the year before.
The company also had posted a R1,83-billion net profit for the year, although this was down 32,6%, compared with the year before.
The Central Energy Fund, of which PetroSA was an operating subsidiary, in October, reported that this was mainly owing to the increased cost of feedstock purchases as a result of high oil prices and a weaker rand. |
