Gas shortage in Western Cape should be resolved

The energy department said recent shortage of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the Western Cape, was due to weather related and refinery issues.

Many had taken to social media to complain that they had been sent from pillar to post trying to get someone who would supply them with gas canisters.

They had been unable to make use of their gas heaters and stoves at the height of cold and wet weather.

The energy department has said that the shortage had only been for a short period of time and was limited to domestic users.

The department said:

“Firstly, [the] PetroSA refinery had experienced [a] challenge with a unit that produces LPG for the past two weeks. Secondly, LPG vessels were delayed due to bad weather last week.”

“The supply of LPG in Cape Town should be fine because the imports arrived at Saldanha on Monday and the PetroSA refinery unit that was on a shutdown is reported to be back online.”

RECENT UPDATE

Sunrise Energy, which owns and operates the LPG terminal at the port of Saldanha, said bad weather had prevented the replenishment vessel from offloading LPG on 8 July.

The CEO of Sunrise Energy, Pieter Coetzee, said:

“The storm we had experienced, we had waves in the entrance of 12.1 metres and higher.”

He added that they had all the spares to repair the damage, which was completed on 18 July.

“The terminal was then restocked to its maximum capacity of 5500MT, is 100 percent operational and is open for truck loading and transport. In fact, as many as 33 trucks are currently being loaded on a daily basis.”

“As a result of the above, there is a full supply of LPG available in the Western Cape and any suggestion to the contrary is entirely false.”

Some LPG stores had warned customers that their orders might be delayed as they attended to the backlog.