TUESDAY, 12.30PM:
STATE-owned synthetic fuel producer Mossgas has asked the government to allocate R180-million from the Central Energy Fund to finance the development of its Bredasdorp Basin gasfields.
The request from one of South Africa’s most expensive white elephants comes at a time when the future of the South African petroleum industry is in turmoil after Minerals and Energy Minister Penuell Maduna threatened to “re-regulate the entire industry” in March.
In response to the request for funds, however, Parliament’s public accounts committee has asked the ministers of finance, trade and industry, and minerals and energy be included in a plan to formally assess whether it is viable to pump further funds into Mossgas.
The committee also requested the ministers become involved in the repeatedly delayed negotiations on the price the industry should pay Mossgas for its petroleum products.
The committee further noted that a potential conflict between the interests of the taxpayer and those of Mossgas in ensuring that the funds of the petroleum products equalisation fund — set up to compensate other oil companies for the unrealistic competition presented by Mossgas — are prudently administered.