PetroSA’s acting Group CEO Mapula Modipa, has today announced his dissatisfaction with the company’s performance. The national Oil Company had in 2014/15 recorded a net loss of R14.6 billion attributing it to poor performance of gas-replenishment programme called Ikhwezi.

Project Ikhwezi was PetroSA’s plan aimed at extending the life span of the Mossgas’ gas to liquid plant not far from Mossel Bay. This was to be done by searching for more resources southwest of the field.

The five-well drilling programme was anticipated to deliver a 242 bcf gas reserve, but it had instead provided only 25bcf, extremely limiting output at the refinery.

Furthermore, the 21% fall in the prices of Crude oil also raised a R2.8 billion revaluation charge affecting PetroSA’s Jubilee and TEN oilfield assets in Ghana.

As a new way of securing its long-standing financial sustainability, the company’s board and its shareholder, the Central Energy Fund has collectively sanctioned a method to create a turnaround strategy called Project Apollo.

However, a team which includes industry experts has been set up to finalize the strategy within six months. “The team is exploring different options that include among others, the maximization of a number of upstream initiatives, the utilization of tail gas and how the GTL Refinery can be optimized under the current feedstock-constrained circumstances. The team has been at work for two months and significant progress has already been achieved,” the company told Engineering news.