A temporary fuel shortage is looming ahead of the petrol price hike on Wednesday, with suppliers warning some orders may be short or delivered late.
The petrol price will increase to its highest level ever, when the retail price goes up by 43 cents to R7.23 at the coast and R7.47 in Gauteng.
The petrol price first broke the R7 ceiling in Gauteng in August 2006, but dropped steadily during the next seven months, before the previous record high of R7.24 (R7 on the coast) in June. Continues Below ↓
According to industry sources, five of the six refineries were running at reduced output.
The Fuel Retailers Association said there was an influx of orders wanted by Tuesday.
Association chief executive Peter Morgan said although they were not expecting shortages, panic buying would put pressure on depots.
A decrease in fuel production has been blamed on the recent fire at Genref, a leak at the Natref refinery, plant interruptions at Secunda and Petrosa, as well as a catalytic cracker being down at Sapref.
A spokesperson for Engen, Herb Payne, said production at the Durban plant was back to the level it was before the November 19 fire, which started in a floating roof petrol storage tank containing 7,5 million litres of petrol. It was believed to have been hit by lightning.
Sapref, the country's largest refinery, shut down for maintenance in September. Shortly before that, it was forced by a strike to close down, causing fuel shortages in some areas.
In January 2006, there was a general fuel shortage when the use of unleaded fuel became mandatory.
This prompted the Moerane Investigation into the causes of the shortage. One of the reasons for the 2005/2006 shortage was an announcement that the petrol price was to be decreased and customers held back on their purchases.
The report said a number of regulatory issues needed to be resolved, including the monthly price changes.
"The method of changing prices on a monthly basis leads to large spikes in demand," the report said.
The Department of Minerals and Energy said the increase was, in part, due to the increase in international product prices, as well as a need to recover exchange shortfalls.
Crude oil was trading at under $90 (R612) by this weekend.
jani.meyer@inl.co.za
This article was originally published on page 4 of Tribune on December 02, 2007
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