Diesel in the pipeline
and refinery is running
Alan Peat
BY THE time you read this, the fuel shortage - caused by a disastrous fire at the Natref refinery - should have more-or-less been overcome, according to Colin McClelland, director of the SA Petroleum Industry Association (SAPIA).
This a result of contingency plans having been implemented. Shiploads of imported diesel and jet kerosene have been brought into Durban over the past two weeks, and piped and railed to Gauteng - the principal area of shortage.
And, after its annual maintenance/repair shutdown, the Engen refinery got back up to speed last week - sorting out the fuel supply (particularly of diesel) to the Durban area.
A temporary worry intruded - with the Cape Town Caltex refinery having a fire in its diesel conversion unit two weeks ago. This temporarily raised a fear of further diesel shortages.
But the overall national shortage should now have diminished to near normality, according to McClelland.
Ships were waiting off Durban last weekend with diesel supplies, he told FTW earlier this week. "And hopefully," he added, "towards the end of the week, diesel will be coming out of the pipeline in Gauteng."
At the same time, extra diesel was taken from Mossgas and Caltex in the Cape to feed the inland shortfall.
Another factor which has helped to reduce this inland problem is the rationalisation of the two-pipeline supply system. The second pipeline is now filled with diesel - relieving the first pipeline and allowing room for more petrol and jet fuel supplies from Durban to Gauteng.
This, along with imported jet kerosene being railed from the coast, has meant that the drastic shortage of fuel at Johannesburg International Airport (JIA) has been almost overcome. "Jet fuel at JIA," said McClelland, "is now about 90% of requirement."
In the country as a whole, he added, the shortage is no longer at a worrying level.
"The coastal ports," McClelland told FTW, "are OK.
ÒWhile things might still be described as ÔtightÕ inland, it's mostly because it has taken time to replenish the stocks in some of the more outlying centres.
"But there's no serious problem any more."
