Southern Africa out of fuel!

I stay in South Africa, and this morning woke up with some shocking news... South Africa has little to no fuel! I had to drive to 5 different service stations before I could fill up my pick-up! And to make it worse they say the problem can only be eased after another two weeks...!

This morning they had to cancel several flights from Cape Town airport, because there was no fuel!

I don't understand why we had no warning of this... They hid it from us until it was too late!

The problem is also spreading to Namibia, Botswana and other neighbouring countries! Is the oil crisis closer/bigger than we thought???

The fuel tanks of some service stations in Namibia, Botswana and Mozambique are running dry. The problem is related to production problems at refineries in Cape Town, where fuel shortages led to the cancellation of flights.

More on SABC News

Edit: Grammar...

[edit on 12-12-2005 by Gemwolf]

Wow, that is strange. Just all of a sudden there's a shortage of aviation and auto fuel? Across several countries?

Weird...

Uhu. Without any warning. Well considering the big change to the "cleaner fuels" end of the year, they should have prepared for it. And there's now a whole lot of confusion surrounding this.
The minister of Transport says there is no problem. Meanwhile back at the ranch, one service station after another is running out of fuel. And I mean, if they don't do anything about it soon, it could permanently harm the country's economy.

Just think about the implications (even if there is no fuel for just two weeks)... No food or any supplies can be delivered. No emergency services. No flights. People can't get to work (we don't have the necessary railway transport systems). Luckily a lot of people are on holiday. But then again try and go to the coast from Johannesburg to Capetown without any fuel...

And the authorities say there is no need to worry. I beg to differ.

Hey Gemwolf, hate to hear thats going on there. What did you mean by the cleaner fuel thing? Just curious I had no knowledge of that.

Originally posted by Harry55
Hey Gemwolf, hate to hear thats going on there. What did you mean by the cleaner fuel thing? Just curious I had no knowledge of that.

Yeah, it feels like I'm in some third world country or something... Nerve wrecking!

The new fuel legislation is kicking in. Fuel companies and refineries are no longer allowed to use lead in any fuels. The government's project to be more environment friendly.

Up to this point we had unleaded fuel - which only newer cars (ones that have catalytic converters) could use, and "Super" which is a higher octane for older cars. Now they're fazing out the "Super" and replacing it with something else the older cars can use. (They call it "lead replacement fuels.)

Here's a site with all the FAQ on the new fuel.

Well, their story is that the refineries stopped making the old fuel to upgrade the refineries in time for January 2006, thus the shortage in fuel. But seriously. Didn't a single person think that we would run out of fuel if they do this? I say BS. Something's up. I just have no idea what!

Pumps running dry
Government's denial that Gauteng is experiencing a fuel crisis has angered motorists who are struggling to fill up their tanks.

Minerals and Energy Minister Lindiwe Hendriks says there is more than enough petrol and diesel in the province and it’s doing everything in its power to normalise the current fuel crisis.

Hendricks says although there is enough petrol inland, increased demand and production problems are causing distribution problems.

She says her department and the petroleum retail industry will co-operate to deal with the situation.

The Fuel Retailers Association says it's aware of several filling stations in Gauteng that have run dry.

The SA Petroleum Industry Association says the problem is due to refineries having to gear up for South Africa's switch to cleaner fuels in January.

The Fuel Retailers Association says it's been inundated with SMS's and e-mails from irate consumers complaining about shortages. CEO Peter Morgan says service station owners have been very badly affected.

www.702.co.za...

But then there's this,

Travelling this festive season will be cheaper: the price of petrol will decrease by 30 cents a litre, from R5,72 to R 5,42, for Gauteng motorists on Wednesday, 7 December.

Diesel containing 0,3 percent sulphur and 0,05 percent sulphur will reduce in price by 26 cents and 30 cents respectively.

Illuminating paraffin will go down by 30 cents per litre in wholesale price while the Single Maximum National Retail Price (SMNRP) will decrease by 40 cents a litre.

The Department of Minerals and Energy attributes a reduction in the fuel price to a decrease in the average international product prices of petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin during the period under review.

The rand strengthened against the US dollar when compared to the previous period, says the department.

The average rand/US dollar exchange rate for the period 28 October 2005 to 1 December 2005 was R6.6751 to US$1 compared to 6.5734 to US$1during the previous period.

allafrica.com...

The SA Petroleum Industry Association says the problem is due to refineries having to gear up for South Africa's switch to cleaner fuels in January.

Do you buy the explanation about the refineries???
And is it true that fuel prices are dropping in South Africa???

Originally posted by anxietydisorder
Do you buy the explanation about the refineries???

Personally I don't. I'm not convinced that South Africa's logistics are that bad that no one foresaw a sudden fuel shortage... I mean people who are in charge of buying aviation fuel at the airports should know what they're doing. And there should be red lights going off all over should they reach minimum levels, not to mention critical levels. Yet, the flights at Capetown International came to a abrupt stop without any warning.
SASOL (South Africa's biggest fuel refineries) have been in the business for ages, and they were always on top of the game in situations where an international oil crisis looms. Yet, now, they have nothing to say for themselves.
Nope. I don't buy it.

Originally posted by anxietydisorder
And is it true that fuel prices are dropping in South Africa???

Indeed. For months now we had the one fuel price increase after the other to hit record levels. Then things settled down (after Katrina, etc.), the gold price reached record levels (which is positive for SA) and the same with Platinum. Thus we had two decreases in fuel prices.

WOW...and Africa is one of the richest continents of minerals?...i.e. diamonds..gold etc. Sounds a little fishy to me. Actually, not owning a vehicle myself....sorry to say, I hope all the worlds fuel depletes. Would make alternative fuels that much more excessible. Do you know that hemp oil or peanut oil or methane (methol alcohol) can all be used in your vehicle with a MINOR calibration (probably not the right word)? Makes you really think doesn't it?

Originally posted by MacMerdin
WOW...and Africa is one of the richest continents of minerals?...i.e. diamonds..gold etc. Sounds a little fishy to me.

Indeed. Angola and Congo has some extremely rich oil fields but because it's a war torn country with little to no infrastructures and billions in international debt it has no affect on the International Oil Market. They just cannot compete with other countries. And the locals are more than willing to trade the resources for weapons. (But then again the same can be said for the Middle East?)
Most African countries (including South Africa) are kept under the thumb by the super-powers and control gold, oil and other minerals in such a way that the countries don't really gain by the resources. At some stage De Beers (South Africa) held the monopoly on diamonds, but shares were sold to major international powers and in the process they lost some leverage on that as well.
Sad state of affair IMO.

Concerning alternative sources of fuel... I'm with you. I'm sure there's much better options. But I guess the Illuminati wouldn't profit from that...

Originally posted by Gemwolf
Concerning alternative sources of fuel... I'm with you. I'm sure there's much better options. But I guess the Illuminati wouldn't profit from that...

Not at the moment no ... but if they'd put more money and resources into R&D on alternative fuels, they could come up with something that might be able to compete with oil and natural gas, in a couple of decades perhaps.

Originally posted by MacMerdin
Actually, not owning a vehicle myself....sorry to say, I hope all the worlds fuel depletes.

Well, it's not only vehicles that need oil and natural gas fuels, but also many powerplants need these fuels to generate energy.
For R&D purposes to create good alternative fuels we need energy, cheap energy.
So depleting the worlds fuels is not the answer to anything.

[edit on 19/12/2005 by SwearBear]

Is it possible there is a connection with the fuel tanks that exploded near London....

Nah..
uhmm?

Anyone..info?

this is great for me i buy fuel in the uk and then sell it to africa (no im not gonna tell you how )i make a s**t load of money lol god bless africa tribe state