Energy minister puts oil stock deal under scrutiny
Energy Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi takes severe approach to transaction, holding up delivery until legality is established
The companies that bought SA’s strategic oil stocks have been refused permission by the Central Energy Fund to lift their product pending an investigation as to whether the sale can be contested in court. The sale of the 10-million barrels of oil by the Strategic Fuel Fund for $280.8m in a closed bidding process took place from December 2015 to January 2016. The buyers were Taleveras Trading, Vesquin Trading/Vitol and Venus Ray Trading. The transactions were not authorised by the board of the Central Energy Fund, the Strategic Fuel Fund’s parent company, nor by the Treasury as required and were concluded when oil prices were low. Energy Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi told members of Parliament’s energy committee on Tuesday that the legality of the contracts had to be evaluated and in the meantime, the oil was still being kept in the Strategic Fuel Fund storage tanks. It had to be decided whether to approach the court to have the contracts declared invalid. Proceeds of the sale should hav...
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