Sasol wins $344 mln in damages against Transnet over tariff dispute

Sasol

20/06/2024 08:40

June 20 (Reuters) - South Africa's Sasol  SOLJ.J  has
won $344 million in damages in a High Court ruling against
state-owned logistics utility Transnet which it accused of
overcharging it for transporting crude oil for several years,
the petrochemical firm said on Thursday.
    Sasol Oil in 2017 joined TotalEnergies, its joint venture
partner in the Natref crude oil refinery, in a lawsuit against
Transnet Pipelines over a tariff dispute.
    "On 18 June 2024, judgement was handed down by the High
Court in Sasol Oil and TotalEnergies' favour. Damages in the
amount of 3,889,475,802 rand ($216 million) plus interest
amounting to approximately 2.3 billion rand ($128 million) were
awarded to Sasol Oil," Sasol said in a statement.
    Transnet and TotalEnergies were not immediately available to
comment.
    The dispute has its roots in a 1967 agreement between the
then South African government and Total, which established an
inland crude oil refinery at a time when coastal refineries were
struggling to meet inland demand.
    To secure the participation of Total in the inland refinery
Natref, the government put in place a pipeline tariff structure
that would match the costs of a coastal processing facility.
    Sasol, which was set up as a state-owned business in 1950
and privatised in 1979, owns 63,64% of Natref, with
TotalEnergies holding the remainder.
    ($1 = 17.9996 rand)

 (Reporting by Nelson Banya; editing by Jason Neely)
 ((Nelson.Banya@thomsonreuters.com;))