South Africa’s interest in oil and gas exploration has increased significantly in recent years, to the point where almost all the country’s offshore exploration blocks are under licence or under application for exploration by independent companies. However, the country’s relatively small known deposits of oil and natural gas will likely not lead to South Africa becoming a major player in the upstream market.

Despite South Africa’s oil and gas deposits, its current fuel-refining capacity is insufficient to meet local demand for liquid fuel products, and the shortfall is being met through imported refined products. In recent years, the country has become increasingly dependent on imported petrol and diesel. In 2013, four-billion litres of diesel and 1.2-billion litres of petrol were imported; and it has been estimated that, by 2020, South Africa will have to import 180 000 bbl/d of petrol and diesel if there is no significant investment in local refining capacity. This has made South Africa an attractive prospect to energy groups involved in importing the fuel.

Creamer Media’s Liquid Fuels 2014 Report examines these issues, focusing on the business environment, oil and gas exploration, the country’s feedstock supplies, the development of South Africa’s biofuels industry, fuel pricing, competition in the sector, the logistics of transporting liquid fuels and environmental considerations, with a particular focus on cleaner fuels.

This report is a summary of information published in Engineering News and Mining Weekly, as well as information available in the public domain and does not purport to provide an analysis of market trends.

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