South African petroleum industry does not expect shortages

Collin McClelland, the director of the South African Petroleum Industry Association (SAPIA), says they do not expect any shortages of petrol, diesel or jet fuel this year.
This comes after the Moerane Investigating Team released a report on the causes of December's widespread fuel shortages during the busy holiday and Christmas deliveries period which urged that steps must be taken to prevent another supply crisis.

McClelland acknowledged that there had been shortages of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) over the last three months but believed the shortage was over. LPG comes in cylinders and is used for cooking, specialised industrial heating and camping and use goes up in winter. He said that unless there was an unexpected event, there should be no other fuel shortages.
"There is more communication this year, we have set up a Logistics Planning Team (LPT) and (maintenance) shutdowns are much smoother than last year. I am confident we will do a lot better," he said.

The department of minerals and energy and the governors of SAPIA met to discuss the report on the shortages. A statement released by the department and SAPIA said they agreed that the report was "sound" and its finding were generally in line with the industry's views that the shortages had been caused by a "convergence of events".
"The meeting then focused its attention on the anticipation by the Investigating Team that another supply crisis could emerge in the second half of 2006 as a result of scheduled refinery maintenance work due to be done during that time," a joint statement said.

The investigating team advised that: "It is imperative that a plan be put in place with immediate effect to avoid this (another shortage) happening." Rams Ramashia, the Sapia chairperson, said a number of steps had been taken to avoid the shortages. The industry's stock levels were at present at full tank levels throughout the country.
Some of the measures taken to deal with fuel issues included speeding up the expansion of the coast-to-Gauteng pipeline, initially due for completion in 2010. This would enable the piping of fuel from Gauteng to the coast during a shortage instead of transporting it by road. A team would study and make recommendations on the long term fuel supply and demand situation in the country, conduct a review of the regulatory system, re-evaluate strategic and commercial stocks policies, and import LPG to cover shortfalls.