Johannesburg - Sasol, the world's largest
fuel from coal producer, on Monday said it has reprioritised capital
expenditure for the next two years to about 15 billion rand per annum.
"We continue to maintain a flexible approach to our capital expenditure
programme, ensuring that our pipeline of growth projects is not affected,
and our investment in growth continues unabated," said Sasol chief financial
officer Christine Ramon.
While Sasol reported a 27% decline in operating profit to R24.7bn for the year to end June 2009 and profit for the year shed almost R10bn by coming in at R13.7bn, Sasol reported a cash
balance of R19.4bn at end June 2009.
Ramon said the group's flexible approach to its capital expenditure
programme allowed it to continuously reprioritise and ensure that its
pipeline of growth projects is advanced.
"Preparatory work for phase one of the Sasol Synfuels progressive
expansion project in South Africa, the Secunda Growth Programme, is
progressing. Phase one, based on natural gas, is expected to increase
production by 3% by 2012 and will improve energy efficiency through internal
electricity generation capacity increasing by 33%," Ramon said.
In the meantime, Project Mafutha is scheduled to start bulk sample
mining before the end of the 2009 calendar year in order to commence large-
scale gasification trials in one of Sasol Synfuels' gasifiers.
Ramon said the environmental impact study is scheduled to start in the
third quarter of the 2009 calendar year.
At Sasol Wax, the group continues with basic engineering and
environmental approvals for the project to double hard wax production at our
Sasolburg facilities in South Africa.
Turning to its projects abroad, Sasol's feasibility study into a coal-
to-liquids (CTL) plant in China is progressing according to schedule and in
April, Sasol Synfuels International (SSI) signed a heads of agreement for
the possible construction of a 1.3 million tonnes per annum gas-to-liquids
(GTL) plant in Uzbekistan with its partners, Uzbekneftegaz and Petronas.
In India, the SSI and Tata joint venture for a CTL facility has
progressed to the pre-feasibility stage following the award of a coal block
in the eastern state of Orissa.
In Mozambique, gas production capacity has increased with Sasol
Petroleum International's (SPI) commissioning of the onshore Pande gas
field, and Sasol reports being well on track to increase the capacity of its
upstream production facilities from 120 to 183 million gigajoules per
annum.
SPI's Ebouri offshore oil field in Gabon was successfully commissioned
during the year.
According to Frost & Sullivan chemicals programme manager Mani James,
continued global expansion would ensure the group emerges stronger from the
global economic slump.
James said the group's current feasibility studies centre on increasing
synfuels production capacity by 20% with 15% of this coming from gas sources
and 5% from coal.
At 13:40 shares in Sasol were trading 3.57% or R11 lower at R297
on the JSE.
- I-Net Bridge