Johannesburg, 2 June (Argus) — South Africa's main oil industry group today said it is confident that refined product supplies would be sufficient to meet higher demand during the FIFA World Cup, which starts in the country on 11 June.
“The South African Petroleum Industry Association (Sapia) is confident that its member companies will be able to supply fuel during the 2010 FIFA World Cup,” Sapia said. Association members are BP, Shell, Chevron, Malaysian Petronas-owned Engen, stated-owned PetroSA, Total and domestic energy firm Sasol.
Around 350,000 foreign visitors are expected for the tournament, the first time that the event has been held in Africa. Demand for transport fuels gasoline, diesel and jet fuel is expected to increase strongly in the month-long event. The country's national energy regulator expects gasoline demand during the event to increase by an additional 22mn litres (4,500 b/d) and jet fuel demand by 39mn l.
South Africa consumed 11.3bn l of gasoline (195,000 b/d) last year, a 2.2pc increase from 2008, according to Sapia. Jet fuel demand was 2.2bn l in 2009, down from 2.4bn l in the previous year.
South African state-owned power firm Eskom said it is confident that it will be able to maintain electricity supplies during the tournament. The country was hit by national power shortages in 2008 because of generation problems at Eskom. Johannesburg's main international airport had to introduce jet fuel rationing in August last year because of supply problems. Retail shortages of gasoline and diesel have occurred in recent years because of operational problems or scheduled maintenance at the country's oil and synfuel refineries, which are mainly near the coastal cities of Durban and Cape Town.
The World Cup ends on 11 July.
Send comments to feedback@argusmedia.com
ss/ml 2.1
If you would like to review other ArgusMedia.com content options, request more information about Argus' energy news, data and analysis services.
Copyright © 2010 Argus Media Ltd - www.ArgusMedia.com - All rights reserved.
