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Johannesburg - South Africa's Competition Commission has launched an investigation into the country's piped gas and petroleum industries, a development triggered by Sasol, the R185bn petrochemical giant.
Sasol said on Monday it had started a "legal compliance programme" that will examine its practices and conduct. It had found areas of concern, it said.
"The intense scrutiny of the review initiated last year is unfortunately indicating areas of concern," said Sasol CEO Pat Davies.
Three business units owned by Sasol would fall under the microscope: Sasol Nitro; Sasol Gas and Sasol Oil. It hoped to conclude the review by the middle of 2009.
Investigations into Sasol's Nitro operations revealed unlawful conduct under the Competition Act for phosphoric acid. The competition law compliance review showed that Sasol's involvement in a piped gas marketing black economic empowerment joint venture also constituted a contravention of the South African Competition Act.
The review into anti-competitive practices comes hard on the heels of a €318m fine imposed on Sasol by the European Commission (EC) in October 2008. The EC found Sasol guilty of participating in cartel agreements in paraffin wax in Europe.
Working in conjunction with the Competition Commission, Sasol said it aimed to expose and correct any business irregularities. It was premature to say what the consequences of any misdoings would be or to calculate their financial impact, it said.
"The board is fully appraised of the competition compliance review and fully supports the activities undertaken," said Sasol chairperson Hixonia Nyasulu.
Davies said Sasol aims to be fully compliant with the investigations "because any contravention of law could potentially lead to fines, remedial actions and civil claims and therefore have a negative impact on Sasol's business and reputation".
?We will not tolerate non-compliance and won't rest until we are confident that all our businesses are fully compliant,? said Davies.
Sasol is eager to avoid a repeat of the EC fine. "We certainly did not anticipate the magnitude of the fine," said Davies at the time.
At 11:00 on Monday morning, Sasol shares were trading 1.5% lower at R285.66.
- Fin24.com