Oil & Gas
• Synthetic fuel caters for about 35% of South Africa’s liquid-fuel demand
The Free State owes its importance in the oil and gas industry to Sasol, the integrated oil, petrochemicals and gas company. Sasol is an innovator and world leader in the use of Fischer-Tropsch technology, which uses catalysed chemical reactions to create a synthetic petroleum substitute from coal. Sasolburg hosts a fuel refinery (Natref), a rubber and carbo-chemical plant (Karbochem), Omnia Fertilisers and Safripol, which makes highdensity polyethylene and propylene.
Oil
Sasol One, the Free State plant, no longer
produces fuels but focuses on chemicals, while
Sasol Two and Sasol Three, in the province
of Mpumalanga, continue to use ever-more
advanced updates of the extractive technology
to produce sythetic fuel.
The Natref refinery is a joint venture between Sasol Mining and Total SA. It is a technologically advanced facility, highly efficient in refining heavy crude oil into petrol, diesel, commercial propane, jet fuel and bitumen. The capacity is 108 000 barrels per day, which is the equivalent of about 14 600 tonnes per day.
Between 60% and 70% of petroleum is distributed by pipeline, 20% to 25% by road and 5% by rail. In 2006, a total of 24 billion litres of all fuels (petrol, diesel, jet fuel, paraffin, etc) were sold in South Africa. Bloemfontein and Kroonstad have petroleum depots.
South Africa’s national oil company is the Petroleum Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa, better known as PetroSA.
Gas
South Africa is slowly turning to gas as an
alternative to coal as an energy source, and
Sasol is leading the way. The company’s two
major synthetic-fuel plants in Mpumalanga have
been modified so that they are no longer entirely
dependent on coal. Natural gas is sourced from
neighbouring Mozambique and piped in. This
project alone raised South Africa’s usage of
natural gas as a primary energy source from
1.5% to 4%. The international average for gas use
is 20%, so a great deal of potential still remains
for further development.
The major economic sectors using gas are the metals sector (48% of volume, with the steel industry the most prominent), and the chemical, pulp and paper sector (about 20%). Brick and glass manufacturers are also big consumers.
Pipeline gas supplied from Sasolburg amounts to 27.3 million gigajoules, with customers mostly in the greater Johannesburg area, the industrial complex east of Johannesburg and Durban.
Gas raw materials come mainly from the by-products of Sasol’s petroleum plants at Secunda (Mpumalanga) and Sasolburg. Products include oxygen for medical use, liquefiedpetroleum gas for industrial, household and recreational use, and oxygen and acetylene. Specialised gases such as argon, helium and nitrogen are also produced.
KEY CONTACTS
National Energy Regulator of South Africa:
www.nersa.org.za
PetroSA: www.petrosa.co.za
Sasol: www.sasol.com
Sasolburg Chamber of Commerce:
www.sasolburg.net
South African National Energy Association:
www.sanea.org.za
South African Oil and Gas Alliance:
www.offshoreafrica.co.za
South African Petroleum Industry Association:
www.sapia.co.za
Transnet Pipelines:
www.transnet.co.za/pipelines.aspx
