Petro SA no longer building terminal in Mossel Bay

01 Feb 2016 | Admin Author

State oil company Petro SA says it will Not be building a Floating Liquefied Natural Gas import terminal in Mossel Bay.

PetroSA CEO, Nosizwe Nokwe-Macamo, said today that a feasibility study had found that meteorological and oceanographic conditions in Mossel Bay are severe and would inevitably increase the logistical and overall gas supply costs of the project.

She says since 2008 PetroSA has been investigating the possibility of importing LNG to supplement dwindling gas reserves in Mossel Bay.

Nokwe-Macamo says in spite of the challenges of locating an Floating Liquid Natural Gas terminal in Mossel Bay, the company will persist with efforts to finding sustainable feedstock solutions for the refinery.

PetroSA spokesperson, Thabo Mabaso, says the state oil company remains committed to Mossel Bay and are there for the long haul.

"Our focus is to now go back to the drawing board, and evaluate other long term feedstock options" she said.

Ms Nokwe-Macamo said the feasibility studies had been very useful, as the company was now better acquainted with the oceanic conditions prevalent around the Mossel Bay area.

The results from this are telling us it is not technically feasible to locate the LNG facility in the area. The good thing about this exercise is that the results of these feasibility studies will be put to good use in other projects in the medium to long term," she added.

The company is currently evaluating various location options.