Singapore steals a march on SA

South Africa with its vast resources of oil and gas has much to learn from the likes of Singapore which has managed to establish itself as a global hub in the market despite its lack of resources. According to Mthozami Xiphu, executive director of the Oil & Gas Alliance, too many vessels bypass South Africa every year travelling from the oil and gas fields on the West Coast to Singapore for repair work. “We should be enticing these rigs and vessels into our own ports,” he said at a recent conference in Cape Town. “South Africa offers a number of service propositions to the regional upstream industry and it is time that we started emphasising and promoting the country as an oil and gas hub.” Not only is SA strategically located but it has some major logistics advantages including a diverse supplier base, logistics distribution centres, repair and maintenance capabilities along with the regional head offices of several of the world’s top oil and gas companies. “With Sub-Saharan Africa one of the world’s fastest growing oil and gas regions, there are major opportunities for South Africa within this sector,” said Xiphu. CAPTION Oil and gas business should be coming our way