Civil Engineering September 2022 | Vol 30 No 8

56 September 2022 Civil Engineering terminal. This network of pipelines distributes refined product to various pipeline depots in the North West, Gauteng and Mpumalanga provinces. The refined product is not only sourced from the Jameson Park terminal (which is piped in from Durban) but also takes in product from NATREF in Sasolburg and the Sasol Secunda plant. This network of pipelines is in daily use. SASOL PIPELINES (PRIVATE) Sasol owns and operates pipelines between its Sasolburg and Secunda operations. These pipelines allow Sasol to move product and intermediates between its var- ious operations for optimisation purposes. There is also a pipeline linking Secunda to NATREF refinery in Sasolburg. ROMPCO PIPELINE ROMPCO is a gas pipeline company owned 20% by Sasol, 40% by the South African Government (CEF/iGas) and 40% by the Mozambiquan Government. It runs a natural gas pipeline fromMozambique to South Africa. Gas has been supplied through the 865 km pipeline from the Pande and Temane fields in Mozambique to Secunda since March 2004. The gas from Mozambique is marketed in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, primarily for industrial use. The current ownership structure is the result of a recent sale of shares by Sasol to CEF/iGas and the Mozambiquan Government. In addition, the line has been debottlenecked with Loop line 2, which was concluded in December 2016. SASOL will continue to operate and maintain the pipeline in terms of the commercial agree- ment. Sasol’s agreements with ROMPCO to transport gas to Secunda are unaffected and the tariffs remain as per the agree- ments, which were approved by NERSA. DECOMMISSION OF UPSTREAM PETROLEUM INFRASTRUCTURE The UPRD Bill is before Parliament for approval and it is estimated that the approval process will take about two years (2023). The Bill specifies that the Petroleum Agency of South Africa will be the regulator and licence administrator of all upstream petroleum resources. In ad- dition, the Bill makes reference to NEMA for the establishing and decommissioning of upstream resources infrastructure, including facilities and pipelines. The relevant acts are: Q Q National Environmental Management Coastal Management Act (No. 24 of 2008) Q Q National Environmental Management Protected Areas Act (No. 57 of 2003) Q Q Maritime Zones Act (No. 15 of 1994). In this regard, all infrastructure including pipelines must be made safe and decom- missioned. At present there are 358 wells drilled off the South African EEZ waters. Petroleum Agency of South Africa (PASA) PASA is the regulator for offshore oil and gas. PASA issued a tender in 2021 for the development of an offshore strategy for various oil and gas facilities including subsea infrastructure, as well as decom- missioning guidelines considering South Africa’s offshore environment. This tender was awarded in late December 2021 and the project was completed in April 2022. It ap- pears that when the UPRD Bill is approved by Parliament these decommissioning activities will commence and offshore pipe- lines will be removed from the seabed. Petroleum Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa (PetroSA) In March 2022 PetroSA issued a tender to review a study that was completed in 2014 for the decommissioning of all its onshore and offshore assets. The company has an obligation to decommission its entire ex- ploration and production operating infra- structure at the end of its economic life. TRANSNET NATIONAL PORTS AUTHORITY (TNPA) – ISLAND VIEW STRATEGY Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) has announced its Island View Strategy of moving all of its fuel and chemical facilities from Durban to Richards Bay. According to TNPA, Durban will fulfil its role as a container hub as the previous “Dugout Port” was too expensive and is under financial constraints. The timing of the relocation is unknown. The relocation to sections in Richards Bay Port regarding logistics, fuel storage, quays, pipelines and timing is unknown. THEFT OF FUELS FROM PIPELINES IN SOUTH AFRICA Theft of infrastructure is endemic in South Africa, particularly fuel from pipelines, railway tracks, cabling, signalling cables and equipment. Despite successful prosecutions and measures to counteract this behaviour the destruction of infrastructure persists. CONCLUSION The offshore pipelines owned by PetroSA are not operating because of the depletion of the gas reserves around Mossel Bay. The only private offshore pipelines that exist are in Saldanha (LPG) and Durban (linked to the SBM). At present, there is no possibility of using the dormant pipelines or constructing new pipelines until the UPRD Bill is approved by Parliament. In addition, a resolution must be found with the environmental lobby about exploration at sea around our coast. The onshore pipelines are dominated by Transnet Pipelines for crude oil to supply crude oil to NATREF and refined fuel products to the inland industrial re- gion of South Africa. Sasol dominates the operation of gas transmission pipelines using the Transnet Pipeline Lilly pipeline. There is future scope to increase the onshore network depending on the de- mand and viability for gas or fuel products. REFERENCES A complete list of references can be obtained from the authors.  Figure 16 Overview of the ROMPCO pipeline