PetroSA has appointed financial services group HSBC as the project adviser for the $11bn Coega crude refinery project, the national oil and gas company said Wednesday.
The announcement is the latest development in the mooted 400,000 barrels a day project, also known as Project Mthombo. The facility will bring additional refining capacity to an industry that is under strain to provide growing demand for liquid fuel.
The refinery is part of the government's plan to security of fuel supply. The project is likely to alleviate SA's reliance on Durban, which handles most of the country's crude imports.
PetroSA spokesman Thabo Mabaso said HSBC would manage the investment funding and structuring arrangements of the project and provide fiscal guidance.
CEO Sipho Mkhize said: "We are delighted to be working with a global partner of this caliber. HSBC's pedigree and track record with mega investment in the refining industry adds to the confidence the commercial market demands of projects of this nature.
"With the awarding of this contract, the Coega refinery project is now entering the seminal chapter of an initiative that will make a significant contribution towards improving and sustaining SA' s future liquid fuels needs -- a principal objective of the government's energy security master plan."
The refinery is in response to the recommendations for the liquid fuels sector that PetroSA procure about 30% of all crude oil consumed in SA.
Mabaso said PetroSA would announce an engineering partner in October. The company announced a tender for the partner last month . The partner would execute the feasibility, front-end engineering design and project management through to commissioning of the refinery.
Mabaso said the group would also announce its legal adviser in October. It has already appointed KBC Advanced Technologies as technical advisers.
Construction for the refinery in the Coega industrial development zone is expected to commence in 2010 and commissioning in 2014.
According to PetroSA, the refinery, which is one of the biggest post-2010 projects, would create about 8000 direct jobs and 39000 indirect jobs.
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