Could PetroSA run a brewery, perhaps?

THE State-owned petroleum, oil and gas company, PetroSA, has been making urgent repairs to its underwater gas pipeline, meanwhile operating at only half its capacity. This is not a crisis since PetroSA at full production only supplies 7% of South Africa's liquid fuel needs and, as PetroSA has assured us; discussions were taking place with the oil industry to ensure that any shortfall was addressed. Translate this a bit and you notice that the PetroSA shortfall will be addressed by Chevron, BP and Shell -- the very oil companies that advised the Government, back in the days when Mossgas was conceived, that the project was woefully uneconomic, would run out of feedstock quite soon, and it would be far better to offer tax breaks to build a brand-new conventional crude oil refinery in Richards Bay. If that advice had been heeded, the South African economy would not now be facing an uphill battle to supply its liquid fuels needs.