Storage & Pipelines


Transportation

Black Oil Group has access to the country's strategic pipeline assets, to service our fuel and gas clients by transporting petroleum and gas products over varying distances.

Volumes

The business is able to handle an annual average throughput of some 16 billion litres of liquid fuel and more than 450 million cubic metres of gases. The liquid products include crude oil as well as diesel, leaded and unleaded petrol and aviation turbine fuels.

Pipeline Network

The liquid fuels network traverses the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Gauteng, North West and Mpumalanga. The intake stations are the two Durban refineries - the crude refinery at Coalbrook (Natref) and the Sasol 2 and Sasol 3 synfuel plants at Secunda

Tank Farm

The network includes a tank farm, at Tarlton, with a capacity of 30 million litres which is used mainly for storage and the distribution of liquid fuels into Botswana.

Gas Pipeline

runs from Secuda to Durban via Empangeni. It has take-off points at Newcastle and Richards Bay as well as along the route between Empangeni and Durban.

Diameters

Pipelines conform to ASME B31.4, an American code of practice, with their diameters designated in inches from six inches (nominally 150 mm) to 20 inches (nominally 508 mm). Pressure in the pipeline network is monitored on a 24 hour-a-day, 365 days-a-year basis at the control centre at Transnet pipelines' Durban head office.