Gobal yawning

THE "After 8 debate" on SAFM this morning supposedly dealt with global warming. Jeremy Mags must have thought he was on to a winner. Alas, it was a damp squib. A Sasol spokesman tiptoed through the obvious minefields. A self-appointed expert from GroundWorks droned on against the usual suspects ( anyone richer than him) and -- at least while I listened -- no one challenged the basic assumption that human activity causes global warming. Oh, incontrovertible evidence of global warming, being a dire threat to the planet, was offered by an earnest young lady who claimed that Kokerboom trees were dying in the drier areas of South Africa. She did, grudgingly admit that they were thriving in not so dry parts. Since global warming believers are at the forefront of attacks on the energy industry, Spigot recommends that readers scan the Internet for antidotes to these latter-day Luddite arguments. Googling "Global warming skeptics" turns up some interesting sites which, whatever the Greenies say, does at least prove that the subject is not as cut and dried as they make out. The Heritage Foundation also has a marvellous quiz on what causes global warming. Yes, Spigot does concede that the climate may be changing. It always has. And long before anyone dreamed of filthy capitalism.

IPayipi- BP link?

GIVEN the congenital secrecy with which the oil industry operates, it should not be surprised if conjecture and speculation runs riot. So it is with the iPayipi- BP link, or the speculation around it. Spigot has already noted that many of the iPayipi directors have BP connections: Clifford Elk was once a BPSA director, Dayer Natha was also once employed by BPSA. Not sure whether Yvonne Chaka Chaka has any links with BP, apart from in her hey day, suppling razzamatazz at various service station site openings for the company. There are also rumours that Riaz Jawoordien once consulted for the company. All that aside, it now appears that of the seven registered observers at Friday's public hearing into iPaypi's application for a pipeline licence, no less than four are BP SA executives. (Transnet will also be there,which should be interesting. Sussing out the opposition, perhaps?).

PETROLINE PUTS iPAYIPI in the shade

PETROLINE, now armed with a National Energy Regulator (Nersa) licence to construct a petroleum product pipeline between Mozambique and Nelspruit, has snaffled Petrofac as a 25% equity partner. They have modestly not revealed what this is actually worth. Whatever. It brings Petroline closer to being the builder of the first privately-owned pipeline to be built in South Africa since the 1960s. Meanwhile, Friday brings iPayipi to the fore with public hearings into their licence application to Nersa. Given the speed with which Petroline got both a licence and a new partner, it would seem that it has an inside track. Could Sasol be their backers, Spigot wonders? Ipayipi supporters, whoever they are, don't seem to have quite the same clout. By contrast, Petroline are so confident that they have announced they will dredge the Maputo harbour to a depth of 14 m, which will allow 85 000 t vessels to enter. Not quite a VLCC's requirements.

HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL

CONFIDENCE positively oozed from Mocambique's Minister of Mineral Resources when she announced this week that a US$68-million oil exploration research tender would be issued before the end of September. According to Engineering News (still the only newspaper worth reading on energy matters) the contract would cover either the southern Inhambane province or the Rovuma Basin. The Minister wants results "by December" -- which should scare off any chancers, Spigot supposes. The Minister rather breathlessly told Reuters," If we find oil today, we need to start production and we can only talk of consumption in 2014, and depending on the quantity, we will also export it." Right. Think positive. The Minister added, "We are receiving a lot of interest from multinational companies, but given the size of the country, which is very big, we will decide on the company that can give us results by December, which will be either from South Africa, Brazil or the United States of America." And who are these multinationals? Why those well-known oil giants, Canada's Artumas Group Inc, the U.S.-based oil firm Anadarko Petroleum Corp, Petronas of Malaysia and Italy's ENI. Note, none of the former seven sisters. Oh, well. Here's hoping, anyway.

More pipeline rumour

ONE of Spigot's readers claims to have heard from a " base-level source" (whatever that means) inside Transnet that it has withdrawn its application for an EPC (another damned acronym) licence. He says this raises the possibility of either a new bidder or leaving iPayipi as the sole bidder. Well, Spigot did say that secrecy breeds speculation. Anyone out there able to clarify this increasingly Byzantine matter of the new Durban- to-Reef petroleum product pipeline? The murk thickens. As does the plot.

iPAYIPI public hearing -- book now!

SPIGOT has got to hand it to iPayipi, the wonderfully-named consortium still persisting in its attempts to build a pipeline from Durban to the Reef in the teeth of what looks very like Cabinet opposition. Readers will recall how the Cabinet sneaked in approval for Transnet Pipelines' proposal before the public participation processes regarding iPayipi's scheme had been completed. To lesser mortals that might have seemed like the end of the iPayipi dream but messers Nather, Jawoordien and Co are obviously made of sterner stuff. At the end of this week public hearings are going ahead. It appears that the consortium is asking for a licence to build not one, but three pipelines: a 26-inch, 590-km long pipeline from Durban to Leandra; a 22-inch, 100-km long pipeline from Leandra to Alrode; and a 20-inch, 130-km long pipeline from Leandra to Waltloo. Pretty brave stuff, considering they don't yet have the money (among other things). Whatever, let's hope our brave newshounds roll up on Friday, 31 August, at Kulawula House, 526 Vermeulen Street, Arcadia, Pretoria at 9am to report. To make it easy for them, Spigot suggests they telephone Herbert Chiloane at 012 – 401 4656 to get a seat. Alas, Spigot cannot be there, since it would be interesting to see how many oil industry executives turn up. Rumour has it that they are actually behind the iPayipi application.

Common sense on the oil industry

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For those who are quick to blame free markets and capitalism whenever oil prices take another jump up just take note of this fact, 80 percent of the world’s oil industry is made up of nationalized companies. That’s right, the vast majority of the world’s oil industry is a creature of socialism.

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Spigot is obliged to a fellow blogger for this bit of common sense wisdom.