Coega refinery concerns as PetroSA plans to cute staff

WITH PetroSA planning to reduce its staff by 40% because of declining revenues, fears of Port Elizabeth’s Coega oil refinery initiative Project Mthombo being jeopardised have been raised.

However, a spokesman for the national oil company yesterday allayed the fears, saying that as Project Mthombo had not got off the ground, the looming mass retrenchments would mainly affect the operations around Mossel Bay in the Southern Cape.

The Mthombo project has been on the cards for the Coega Industrial Development Zone since 2007 but has hit snags since 2010, when it was announced in parliament that a feasibility study had been concluded.

Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber chief executive Kevin Hustler said the chamber had long been an advocate for the establishment of the oil refinery at Coega.

“The refinery has a critical role to play in the security of South Africa’s liquid fuel supply into the future,” he said.

“There are many up- and downstream opportunities associated with Mthombo, a number of which answer to the need to diversify the local economy.

“The refinery thus holds immense potential in terms of job creation. The socio-economic impact of this project should not be underestimated, especially in its potential to change the industrial face of the province,” Hustler said.

PetroSA vice-president of corporate affairs Zama Luthuli declined to comment late yesterday.

She said the company would only release a statement today.

Last week, the Treasury said the project was at the feasibility stage and would cost R200-billion to build. It is due to become part of the Eastern Cape’s special economic zones (SEZs) in July next year, following the signing of the SEZ bill into law last year.

It had previously been reported that the dismissals were likely to start next month as the parastatal looked to reduce its 1 800strong workforce in Mossel Bay.

However, the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers’ Union in the Western Cape said it had yet to receive formal communication from the company about the retrenchments.