/ 3 May 2007

Sasol hedges 45 000 bpd for ’08 financial year

South Africa’s Sasol, the world’s top coal-to-liquids maker, will hedge 45 000 barrels of oil per day or 30% of its synthetic fuels production for its 2008 financial year, the company said on Thursday.

Under the hedge, Sasol has a floor price of $62,40 per barrel, based on monthly average dated Brent crude oil prices, and will forego the upside on the hedged volumes should the monthly average dated Brent price exceed $76,80 per barrel.

Sasol’s 208 financial year starts on July 1 2007.

Sasol said the zero cost collar structure for the hedge was similar to the oil price hedging it concluded for the 2007 financial year, when a floor price of $63 per barrel was achieved and upside was limited to $83,60 per barrel, also on 45 000 barrels of oil per day.

Shares in Sasol added 0,9% to R240,50 on the back of a firmer oil price as gasoline stocks in the United States dropped ahead of peak summer demand, and led the blue chip Top-40 index, which gained 0,3% by 7.21am GMT. – Reuters