Mpumalanga Business 2022-23

SECTOR NEWS
Oil and gas
Air Liquide has increased its presence in the province.
SECTOR INSIGHT
Sasol continues to reduce
debt by selling off units.
Air Liquide Large Industries South Africa Air is to start
operating 16 air separation units (ASUs) as a result of an
R8-billion purchase from Sasol. The company’s fleet now
comprises 17 ASUs in Secunda, with the 16 units having
the capacity to produce 42 000 tons per day of oxygen.
Sasol announced in 2021 that it was to sell a 30% in the Romco
natural gas pipeline that links Mozambique and South Africa. As part
of a global sell-off of assets to reduce debt, Sasol expects to earn more
than R5-billion from the transaction. The company will continue to be
the pipeline’s operator and maintains a 20% stake in the venture.
The Romco pipeline could carry far more gas in the future as
there have been big finds of new gas off the coast off Mozambique
which could be shipped as liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Maputo and
continue from there to the Sasol plant at Secunda.
The province is already equipped with energy and fuel
infrastructure and expertise.
The Liquefied Natural Gas Independent Power Producer
Procurement Programme (LNG IPPPP) is part of the broader
programme of the National Department of Mineral Resources and
Energy which encourages private investment in renewable energy,
namely the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer
Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). The total allocated to gas-topower
in the national power plan is 3 726MW, of which 3 000MW is
for LNG.
Three natural gas exploration permits have been awarded to
Tosaco Energy for the sandstone-rich area between Amersfoort
ONLINE RESOURCES
Independent Power Producer Programme: www.ipp-projects.co.za
Petroleum Agency South Africa: www.petroleumagency.co.za
PetroSA: www.petrosa.co.za
and Balfour in the western part
of the province by Petroleum
Agency South Africa (PASA).
PASA regulates exploration and
production activities, and acts
as the custodian of the national
petroleum exploration and
production database.
Tosaco Holdings has a 25%
stake in Total SA. Two methanegas
exploration rights have been
granted to Highland Exploration in
the Evander area.
The promoters of the
Nkomazi Special Economic
Zone believe that the fact that
the pipeline passes through the
SEZ is a big selling point. An
alternative would be for the LNG
to be shipped to Richards Bay
before being piped north.
Many of the big mining and
manufacturing concerns in
Mpumalanga have long-term
contracts for the supply of gas
with big gas companies. Afrox
and Air Liquide are two of the
biggest, with the latter having
3 500 national customers,
including Sappi and Sasol.
International chemicals and
energy company Sasol has several
large plants in Mpumalanga. Sasol
Gas is one of the four operations
at Secunda, supplying natural gas
to Sasol Synfuels and buying Sasol
Synfuels’ methane-rich pipeline gas
to sell to customers in Mpumalanga
and KwaZulu-Natal. ■
MPUMALANGA BUSINESS 2022/23
46