The fuel shortage resulted in the urgent importation of more than 250000 tons of petrol, diesel and jet fuel from around the world to replenish stocks.

South African Petroleum Industry Association executive director Colin McClelland estimated that about 100000 tons of finished product had been imported so far, some of it ordered off ships already at sea. Another 150000 tons exported from Europe was due in SA next month, traders said.

As oil refineries scuttled to fill supply gaps, Hendricks announced the appointment of Moerane (pictured right) as head of a team to investigate the crisis.

The other members of the team will be announced later and a timeframe worked out with government once team members had assessed the work required.

Hendricks has indicated she would like a report to be finalised as soon as possible.

The team will advise her on the regulatory measures necessary to avert a repetition of the fuel shortages that occurred as a result of the failure by oil companies to build up sufficient stock of refined product to carry them through the transition period from leaded to unleaded fuel.

The industry’s woes worsened last week when a petrol-producing catalytic cracking unit at the Sapref refinery in Durban went offline after a fire. It is due to start up again only next week. A spokesman said the refinery was presently “running at normal crude throughput”.

Panic buying by motorists across the country also contributed to the shortage, which disrupted agricultural activity, particularly among Western Cape fruit growers.

Moerane will look into whether oil companies should have to compensate fuel consumers who suffered hardship as a result of the shortage.

Hendricks, who has accused the oil industry of withholding vital information from her, is adamant that they should pay for reneging on their obligation to maintain adequate stocks. Shesaid the investigation was “of critical importance to understand what went wrong. We must ensure that our legislation and policies are in line with the growing needs of our economy.

“The findings of this investigation will help to inform us on the root cause of the problem and the measures that we need to take to obviate the recurrence of shortages in the future,” Hendricks said.

The team’s terms of reference include the magnitude of the shortage; the likelihood of a recurrence; regulatory measures which might have contributed to it, including any measures intended to prohibit or prevent anticompetitive practices; logistics infrastructure and refining capacity; refinery shut-down planning; wholesaler-retailer relationships; and communication channels.

Also to come under the spotlight will be the handling of leaded fuel production; obligations to hold commercially prudent levels of finished product stocks; panic purchasing by motorists; and delays by retailers in ordering supplies to take advantage of an impending price cut. With Reuters