Listen to this article.
By Dylan Bettencourt
- Minister Gwede Mantashe says the government is talking to fuel suppliers to keep fuel on the shelves without touching the country’s emergency oil supply.
- Mantashe was honest that the government cannot stop fuel prices from going up, saying big increases are now nearly impossible to avoid.
The government is in talks with fuel suppliers to make sure South Africans can still buy petrol and diesel as prices climb.
Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe said this on Monday at an oil and gas conference in Cape Town.
Mantashe said the talks are about keeping fuel available in South Africa. He said the government does not want to dip into the country’s emergency oil supply just yet. That reserve, held by the Strategic Fuel Fund, contains eight million barrels of crude oil.
But Mantashe was clear that the government cannot hold prices down. “Substantial fuel price increases are increasingly unavoidable,” he said.
On what comes next, Mantashe said new rules for the Upstream Petroleum Resources Development Act should be published by the end of the month. Changes to the Petroleum Products Act are also going through Cabinet before heading to Parliament.
A new state company, the South African National Petroleum Company (Sanpc), will be in charge of driving the government’s role in the oil and gas sector.
“South Africa must not stand on the sidelines while our neighbouring countries unlock the value of their resources,” Mantashe said. “We must act decisively, responsibly, and in the national interest.”
Pictured above: Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe.
Image source: Gwede Mantashe/Facebook
