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Picture: SUPPLIED
Picture: SUPPLIED

State-owned oil and gas company PetroSA announced on Monday that it has replaced its acting CEO Sandisiwe Ncemane, who will return to the Central Energy Fund, with Sesakho Magadla, who will also serve in an acting capacity until a permanent appointment is made.

According to the PetroSA board, the acting appointments “are interim, pending the official appointment of a [CEO] by the shareholder”.

Magadla has been with PetroSA for 16 years most recently in the role of acting COO.

Bloomberg reported a new CEO has already been selected and the name submitted to cabinet for approval by mineral resources & energy minister Gwede Mantashe.

PetroSA has faced much scrutiny over a controversial decision to select Russia’s Gazprombank Africa as the preferred investment partner to restart operations at its gas-to-liquid refinery in Mossel Bay.

The production of petrol, diesel and other value-added products from the gas-to-liquids refinery, which was running at a capacity of 36,000 barrels a day, was suspended in 2020 because of the depletion of offshore gas feedstock.

The deal is still dependent on the final investment decision and terms and conditions that are expected to be finalised in April, but cabinet has already endorsed PetroSA’s decision.

The deal risks further souring SA’s relations with the US, which came under strain in 2023, because Gazprombank Africa is a subsidiary of Gazprombank, which is under US sanctions that were imposed in reaction to the war between Russia and Ukraine.

erasmusd@businesslive.co.za

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