The South African Petroleum Industry Association has applied for exemptions to the nation\u2019s competition rules in order to \u201cprevent and mitigate supply emergencies,\u201d according to a government notice.<\/p>\n
The exemptions to the Competition Act would allow joint planning around the scheduled shutdown of refineries and coordinate reactions to unplanned outages by members including Total SE, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Sasol Ltd., that own refineries in South Africa, Sapia, the industry lobby group, said in a Government Gazette notice published 21 December.<\/p>\n
More than 40% of South Africa\u2019s crude-oil refining capacity has been shut this year by accidents that occurred, including one at a Glencore Plc unit\u2019s refinery in Cape Town and Petroliam Nasional Bhd.\u2019s Engen refinery in Durban.<\/p>\n
Sapia has applied specifically for exemptions from \u201ccertain provisions\u201d in Chapter 2 of the Competition Act, the notice said.<\/p>\n
It also requests that collective interactions between the industry and government be allowed. The lobby group didn\u2019t immediately return emails seeking comment, while the Competition Commission said it would reply later.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis exemption does not extend to the wholesale, commercial and retail trade of liquid fuels by Sapia members,\u201d it said. It also doesn\u2019t extend to members discussing prices, markets, tenders or competitive strategies.<\/p>\n