Cape Town – President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced the formation of the South African National Petroleum Company (SANPC), created through the merger of the Central Energy Fund’s subsidiaries: iGas, PetroSA, and the Strategic Fuel Fund.
The SANPC aims to enhance South Africa’s energy security, drive technological advancements, develop infrastructure, and promote social and economic growth.
Its formation stems from President Ramaphosa’s February 2020 State of the Nation Address, where he announced plans to repurpose and streamline state-owned enterprises to boost growth and development.
In line with this directive, on June 10, 2020, the Cabinet approved the merger of three Central Energy Fund (CEF) subsidiaries: iGas, PetroSA, and the Strategic Fuel Fund (SFF).
“The rationalisation of these subsidiaries into one single SA National Petroleum Company is on the basis that each company be efficiently structured so as not to transfer operational inefficiencies and going concern issues into the new entity.
“Out of the three merging entities, only iGas and SFF are financially viable to be merged into the new entity subject to key legal requirements. However, following a rigorous assessment of the PetroSA business, the only financially viable division to be merged into the new company is Trading and the Ghana asset,” the new petroleum company said in a statement on Wednesday.
The SANPC will initially operate under the Central Energy Fund until the National Petroleum Bill is enacted, using a Lease and Assign model to manage legacy assets.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
