Discussions between South Africa’s oil companies and the Department of Energy on a programme and timelines for upgrading refineries to make lower-sulphur fuels are to continue to the end of 2017, South African Petroleum Industry Association (Sapia) executive director Avhapfani Tshifularo said on Wednesday. This will be unwelcome news to the automotive industry. The original target date to upgrade refineries to make fuel with a maximum of 50 parts per million (ppm) sulphur to meet the specifications of modern car engines was July 2017. That date has been discarded as industry and the government have been unable to agree on how refineries will be able to recover their investment, estimated to be at least R40bn. Tshifularo was answering questions at the presentation of a KPMG report commissioned by Sapia on the petroleum industry’s broad economic impact in SA. The report showed that refining activities were the most important part of the value chain, contributing R212.6bn to gross dome...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.