BP decision to withdraw from jet fuel supply unrelated to Russia, says Acsa

The decision by BP to withdraw from the supply of jet fuel for SA airports dates back to February last year and has nothing to do with the Russia/Ukraine war, the Airports Company SA (Acsa) said in a statement on Friday.

BP’s decision was only publicised this week and there was speculation that its action was due to the international sanctions against Russia, SA’s close relations with Russia and the decision by Acsa to service aircraft of countries which are considered friends of SA.

“We can confirm that BP started officially engaging Acsa more than a year ago in February 2022, with respect to their change in global strategy. At the time, BP indicated their intention to exit the current arrangements,” the Acsa statement said.

“Later in April 2022 the oil company further informed Acsa that it would resign as the managing participant of the consortia at OR Tambo International Airport and Cape Town International Airport and terminate its lease agreements for the operations of the fuel facilities at King Phalo and George airports. This in our understanding had nothing to do with Russia or Ukraine (nor the non-refuelling incident in SA) but BP’s global strategy which was communicated to Acsa in early 2022.”

Acsa said that as BP wound down its operations it had assisted Acsa and the fuel consortium to successfully transition to new jet fuel suppliers. “This will be done across Acsa’s airports to ensure business continuity,” it said, adding that all airlines had been notified of the new arrangements.

“It is Acsa’s legislative mandate to ensure the availability of jet fuel at its airports. This is done through licence agreements with oil companies. The relevant oil companies who have concluded their agreements are bound by regulation (National Energy Regulator of SA licenses) to ensure business continuity through the transition to incoming suppliers and operators.

“ACSA and oil companies are progressing well with the implementation of these transitionary arrangements,” the statement said.

In a statement earlier this week BP Southern Africa head of communications and external affairs Hamlet Morule said the decision to exit all its aviation activities in SA was based on its current global business strategy.

Morule said that “as part of good business practice, Air BP reviews its portfolio on a continuous basis. In the light of its latest review, a decision was taken to exit all of BP’s aviation activities, as operator at the airports, and direct supplier to airlines, in SA.

“The decision was made as a result of Air BP’s current global business strategy.”

Morule said BP had withdrawn from Cape Town International Airport effective January 31 and had advised its customers of its decision to cease aviation fuel activities at East London and George Airports on March 31.

“Furthermore, BP Southern Africa has taken a decision to exit operations at OR Tambo International Airport and is currently serving notice to cease being managing participant, effective May 1 2023. We have sent out communications advising our customers of our decision to cease aviation activities at OR Tambo and King Shaka International Airports on April 30 2023,” Morule said.

“In this time of transition, BP remains committed to working with all stakeholders to ensure customers and the country are not adversely impacted as a direct result of BP’s exit from SA’s aviation market.”

According to a News24 report, two Russian planes could not get fuel at the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg and Cape Town International Airport last year because fuel suppliers had to adhere to the sanctions imposed on Russia by their countries of origin and their own company policies.

Acsa has told parliament that it would adopt a new refuelling plan to deal with a scenario “where a sanctioned friend of the SA government needs servicing and refuelling”.

ensorl@businesslive.co.za