Brent oil $47.37 -4.2
Cape Town - The strong rand has helped soften the impact of high oil prices on the economy, Minerals and Energy Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said on Thursday.
Opening debate on her department's budget vote in the national assembly, she said the country spent 15% of its total import bill on oil imports.
"Our energy sector is faced with some challenges... some of which are driven by external factors, such as the escalating oil price.
"The determination of the price at which we buy crude oil is out of our hands, as South Africa is an importing country.
"The strong rand has helped to mitigate the impact of the oil price spikes on the economy."
Mlambo-Ngcuka said the national oil company, PetroSA, had been busy on three fronts to ensure energy supplies.
These included "securing additional oil blocks in Africa, finding additional gas supplies, and developing a new gas-to-liquids technology that may one day challenge the world leaders in this area".
The new gas-to-liquids technology gave PetroSA "a strategic and geo-political importance out of all proportion to its size", she said.
The company's immediate challenge lay in securing additional gas supplies before local sources ran out in 2012.
"They have considered a number of plans, and these will be considered by cabinet later this year," Mlambo-Ngcuka said.
Edited by Elmarie Jack
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