- PetroSA has been trying to get its refinery working as South Africa worries about the security of its fuel supply.
- The 45,000 barrel-per-day Mossel Bay GTL plant has been under care and maintenance for several years.
South Africa has agreed to the national oil company PetroSA’s recommendation to select Russia’s Gazprombank Africa as an investment partner for its gas-to-liquid (GTL) refinery at Mossel Bay. South Africa disclosed this in a statement today. PetroSA has been looking for investors for its flagship plant as South Africa worries about the security of fuel supply following the closure of its two largest refineries, Sapref and Enref, due to accidents and business decisions.
The 45,000 barrel-per-day Mossel Bay GTL plant has been under care and maintenance for several years as dwindling offshore gas resources meant the plant could no longer operate. Gazprombank is Russia’s third-largest lender by assets and a vital conduit of the Russian energy trade. According to a cabinet statement, this selection of GazpromBank is still dependent on the Final Investment Decision informed by a joint bankable business case and all the terms and conditions, anticipated to be finalised in April 2024.
However, the GTL plant is a critical element of negotiations between TotalEnergies and PetroSA to reach a gas supply agreement that potentially links a huge TotalEnergies gas discovery to a PetroSA offshore platform. The platform was used to supply domestic gas directly to Mossel Bay, and utilising this infrastructure could help accelerate potential gas supplies from the TotalEnergies discovery.