The Central Energy Fund (CEF) remained a going concern and would continue to operate in the foreseeable future, the group’s executives stressed in a presentation to Parliament’s portfolio committee on energy on Wednesday. Their assertions follow a warning by the auditor-general that there was a "material uncertainty" over the ability of CEF’s gas-to-liquid fuel subsidiary, PetroSA, to continue operating as a going concern. PetroSA makes up 75% of the CEF’s revenue. It posted a loss for the year to end-March of R1.4bn — compared with the previous year’s total loss of R449m. A major challenge facing PetroSA is the dwindling offshore gas reserves to feed its Mossel Bay plant. It has begun to use condensate as an alternative. In their presentation to the committee, CEF executives said their confidence in the going-concern status of the CEF was premised on the fact that the group’s gearing ratio was low and that its assets exceeded its liabilities by R14bn. "The bulk of our assets are co...
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