Good luck to Mestosync Energy who want to build a mega oil refinery producing 400,000 barrels a day near Port Elizabeth. It will be, by far, the largest refinery in SA but by the time it is built there are not likely to be many customers. Volkswagen, for example, has announced that by 2030 it will only build electric cars. The UK announced that by 2032 it would ban the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles. Every major motor manufacturer in the world is going electric with either battery or fuel cell cars. Electric cars are expensive but that is changing quickly as the Tesla Model 3, the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Bolt are demonstrating. Once the cars are made in volume they will be cheaper than the present generation because they will have so few moving parts. They will not require oil changes and maintenance costs will be a fraction of what we pay today. So why build a mega refinery and probably a 1,000km pipeline to get the product to the main market in Gauteng when petrol and di...

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.

Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.