PetroSA low on gas

Cape Town - PetroSA's gas-to-liquid (GTL) plant at Mossel Bay will have to close if no new gas fields are found. An envisaged floating offloading point for liquefied natural gas (LNG) is part of the plan to ensure the plan's continued existence, says the group.

PetroSA is receiving resistance from residents' associations and environmental groups who warn that the Vleesbaai project, an unspoilt coastal area west of Mossel Bay, will cause property prices to drop, destroy the growing tourism industry, disrupt commercial fishing activity, and pose serious risks to the environment. Natural gas is highly flammable and requires strict safety measures.

According to PetroSA, the group urgently needs to find new gas supplies for its GTL plant because the gas fields being exploited via the FA platform on the southern Cape coast will by next year become too small for viable exploitation.

Mareo Bekker, chairperson of the Rescue Vleesbaai Action Group (REVAG) reckons plans for a floating LNG discharge point form only the thin edge of the wedge.

These could in time lead to a permanent LNG quay, and Vleesbaai would eventually become a industrial petrochemical area. REVAG represents homeowner and taxpayer associations, as well as property developers and the Pinnacle Point golf estate.

Action groups suggest PetroSA should build the LNG offloading point in Voorbaai, in the Mossel Bay industrial area, where PetroSA already has a crude oil discharge point and a pipeline to the GTL plant.

But if the GTL plant has to close because the LNG discharge point cannot be built, 1 800 workers could lose their jobs and the state would forfeit income like the R428m in tax that PetroSA paid in the past fiscal year, the group points out.

- Sake24