South Africa produces five per cent of its fuel needs from gas, 35 per cent from coal and 50 per cent from local crude oil refineries, according to the South African Petroleum Industry in South Africa 2018 report by Research And Markets, a global market research firm
According to the South African Petroleum Industry Association (SAPIA), the fuel sector contributes about six per cent to the country’s GDP while supplying about 18 per cent of South Africa’s primary energy needs through annual sales of 27bn litres of liquid fuels.
In 2016, the nine members of SAPIA, who are the main manufacturers of South Africa’s oil and gas products, had total assets of US$9.41bn and made an operating profit of US$1.43bn.
According to Research And Markets, about 80 per cent of South Africa’s crude oil is imported through the single buoy mooring (SBM) system off the coast of Durban. Shell (26 per cent), Engen (26 per cent), BP (26 per cent), Sasol Oil (16 per cent) and Total (six per cent) own the SBM, which is managed and operated by SAPREF, South Africa’s largest oil refinery.
Statistics show that domestic downstream refined product market has seen a gradual shift from being a net export market to a net import market in the last 15 years with approximately eight billion litres a year being imported.
Some of the major constraints to South Africa’s commercial oil and gas and biofuel production include the national regulatory environment and very high input costs, said the report.
Companies range from SMME Blue Chip Lubricants which recently sold 51 per cent of the company to Lutramart Oils Pty Ltd, a black-owned lubricant distributor, and Chevron South Africa which announced its intention of selling 75 per cent of its stake in Calref to China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) for US$850mn in March 2017.