South Africa’s Energy Licence Granted

This licence is a significant milestone in fast-tracking Project Mthombo, a strategic initiative to build the 400 000 barrel-a-day crude oil refinery at Coega.  The licence was granted by the Controller of Petroleum Products, a unit of the Department of the Minerals and Energy, in terms of the Petroleum Act of 1977. It allows PetroSA to manufacture refined petroleum products at the Coega site.

PetroSA president and chief executive Sipho Mkhize said the granting of the licence signalled a significant step in realising the construction of the refinery.  "This demonstrates government's commitment to, and confidence in, PetroSA's capacity to provide a feasible, sustainable and commercially viable solution to the liquid fuels supply challenges facing South Africa," he said.

Expected to be the biggest on the African continent, the refinery will come on stream in 2014 and is expected to create over 25 000 direct and indirect jobs around the Port Elizabeth area.  "The Coega refinery does not only address security of supply. It also provides a strategic new energy hub in addition to the present Durban crude supply chain, while presenting a major economic growth opportunity for an underdeveloped region of South Africa," he said.

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