Euro 5 petrol ‘in pipeline’

The expected announcement from government that the proposed new Coega refinery is to be given the green light will be good news indeed! This new Petro SA refinery plans to produce Euro 5 quality liquid fuel, compared with the Euro 2 quality – so-called dirty fuels – currently produced by the other South African oil companies, all of whom seem to be stuck in second gear.

The modern auto industry needs better quality fuels to allow fitment of cleaner engines to both imports and locally-manufactured vehicles, so hopefully the Coega development will stimulate some action from the current liquid fuel producers. The suggestion from one oil company CEO that we don’t need the Coega refinery, seems to be driven by self interest.

While I fully recognise the distribution challenges faced by Coega, right now my money’s on them, as they have taken the moral high ground by planning to offer what the automotive industry needs, ie cleaner fuels.