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AfrOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT AfrOil

Sasol subsidiary to sell 30% stake in

ROMPCO to South African consortium

S. AFRICA/MOZAMBIQUE SOUTH Africa’s Sasol has arranged to sell part fields, Pande and Temane, to Secunda, as per the
of its stake in the Republic of Mozambique Pipe- terms of its previous agreements. Gas transport
line Company (ROMPCO) to a group of South tariffs will not be affected by the sale, as they
African investors. have already been approved by the National
In a statement, Sasol said that its Sasol South Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA), it
Africa (SSA) subsidiary had signed a sale and added.
purchase agreement (SPA) with a consortium For his part, Victor stressed that SSA
set up by Reatile Group, a black-owned invest- remained committed to its projects in Mozam-
ment firm, and the IDEAS Fund, a domestic bique. The company sees Mozambican gas as an
infrastructure fund managed by African Infra- integral part of its gas strategy, he explained.
structure Investment Managers (AIIM). The SSA is selling the stake in ROMPCO within
agreement provides for SSA to reduce its stake the framework of its parent company’s efforts to
in ROMPCO, the owner of an 865-km natural sell off assets in order to pay down debts. Sasol
gas pipeline connecting Mozambique and South began exploring its options for the sale last year,
Africa, from 50% to 30%. in response to creditors’ concerns about its
Paul Victor, the group CFO for Sasol, decision to call off a $2bn initial public offering
said that the consortium had agreed to pay (IPO) of stock and to borrow more money for a
ZAR4.145bn (about $293mn) for the 30% stake chemical project in the US. ™
in ROMPCO. SSA will also receive a deferred
payment of ZAR1bn (about $70.75mn), assum-
ing that the group achieves certain milestones by
June 30, 2024, he added.
The SPA is expected to take effect in the sec-
ond half of this year, assuming that the South
African government approves the planned sale
and ROMPCO’s other shareholders do not exer-
cise their right to pre-empt the deal.
If the sale goes forward, it will not affect
ROMPCO’s other shareholders – Compan-
hia Mocambiçana de Gasoduto (CMG), with
25%, and South African Gas Development Co.
(SOC), also known as iGas, with 25%. Nor will
it have an impact on SSA’s obligation to operate
and maintain the Mozambique-South Africa
pipeline under an existing commercial agree-
ment, as this arrangement is “independent of
the proposed transaction,” Sasol said.
Instead, it said, SSA will continue to use
ROMPCO to pump gas from two Mozambican ROMPCO handles gas from the Pande and Temane fields (Image: OTC)

INVESTMENT
Shell to divest more Nigerian assets

NIGERIA ROYAL Dutch Shell (UK/Netherlands) is look- for Shell’s long-term development plans, which
ing to unload more of its onshore assets in Nige- aim to bring net carbon emissions down to zero
ria, according to the company’s CEO, Ben van by 2050. “The balance of risks and rewards asso-
Beurden. ciated with our onshore portfolio [in the Niger
Speaking at the company’s annual general River Delta] is no longer compatible with our
meeting (AGM) on May 18, van Beurden said strategic ambitions,” he commented, according
that these onshore projects were not a good fit to a Bloomberg report.

Week 20 19•May•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P9