Oil and gas industry beckons SA ports

The developing oil and gas industry along the west coast of Africa presents significant opportunities for SA ports which are in an ideal position to benefit through the establishment of repair facilities for rigs and vessels, Tau Morwe, chief executive of Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) told FTW recently. “Vessels are bypassing us to go to Singapore to effect the necessary repairs to ships working along the west coast where the oil and gas industry has developed extensively in recent years,” said Morwe. “We could benefit enormously if we could attract those very vessels and ensure they use our repair facilities. The benefit to the economy for just one rig being repaired at a port is estimated at over R400 million.” Currently three oilrigs are being repaired at South African ports, said Morwe. “We have one in Cape Town, one at Saldanha and one at Ngqura. We need to be thinking out of the box to create terminals that can deal with these vessels and have the necessary facilities to make repairs.”