Owners of certain vehicles will pay more for fuel next year when regulations to encourage the use of cleaner fuels come into effect, the South African Petroleum Industry Association (Sapia) said on Wednesday.
The regulations, which have cost oil companies billions in changes, mean that drivers of luxurious performance vehicles will pay a levy of at least 10 cents more if they choose to use 95-octane fuel, to discourage unnecessary use of this fuel, Sapia’s Nick McClelland said.
And the new diesel, which will have a much lower sulphur content, will cost about 23 cents a litre more than current prices, with the old grade being abolished.
An even lower-sulphur diesel will also be introduced at selected places, also costing more.
From January 1, leaded fuels will no longer be manufactured in South Africa, and from January 4, the first working day after the holidays, leaded fuel and diesel with a high sulphur content will be phased out at the pumps as it is used up.
The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) said lead-replacement petrol will be introduced for older vehicles.
Being available inland for the first time (apart from a brief promotional campaign by one company), 95 octane will carry the 10-cent levy.
Ninety-one-octane fuel will only be available at certain service stations and will cost slightly less. Ninety-seven octane, only available at the coast, will be phased out.
Unleaded fuel will also have a different composition.
Onus on motorists
Motorists wondering what fuel to use can consult a database at every filling station, or check the database on www.naamsa.co.za.
”There will be a bit of an onus on the motorist to know what his car is. There can be a tremendous difference on a Citi Golf if it is a 1998 or a 1996,” said McClelland.
The cut-off date of 1996 is related to the year that unleaded technology was introduced.
The Retail Motor Industries’ (RMI) chief executive Jeff Osborne said there are about 160 000 old cars on the road that will use the lead replacement fuel and will also require a require a slight ”10-minute” adjustment in a workshop.
However, Osborne said: ”There is no need to panic.”
The RMI is producing a list of workshops throughout the country that have agreed to do this adjustment free as an ”act of goodwill”.
Details of participating workshops will be available from any RMI office.
The change is estimated to have cost the oil companies about R10-billion, said McClelland.
”I think it is the biggest single investment into the quality of health. I think everybody is ready for it.”
Training and information
Most fuel companies already have information on the changes on their websites.
Engen’s Barbara Manson said petrol attendants have already been trained and information campaigns are planned.
Manson confirmed that some prices will go up, but added: ”It will reduce the brown haze on our horizons.”
Sasol, which provides about 40% of the country’s total fuel at its own filling stations, said its ”Project Turbo” has cost R4,6-billion in refinery changes.
This includes R600-million on a desulphurisation reactor and R150-million on a sulphur-dioxide emission project at Natref, jointly owned by Sasol and Total.
”We will release in a week or two what the consumer can expect with our lead-free range,” spokesperson Johann van Rheede said.
Earthlife Africa spokesperson Richard Worthington welcomed the changes, saying they are ”good news”, but cautioned that the lead replacements in the lead-replacement fuel must be monitored.
The regulations have been introduced because lead and sulphur and the emissions from the increased number of vehicles on the road are known to have detrimental effects on health and on the environment and are also to allow for the manufacturing specifications of new vehicles. — Sapa