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

South Africa's Sasol has won $344 million in damages in a High Court judgment versus stateowned logistics energy Transnet which it implicated of overcharging it for transferring crude oil for numerous years, the petrochemical company said on Thursday.

Sasol Oil in 2017 joined TotalEnergies, its joint venture partner in the Natref petroleum refinery, in a suit versus 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 quantity of 3,889,475,802 rand ($ 216 million) plus interest totaling up to approximately 2.3 billion rand ($ 128 million) were granted to Sasol Oil, Sasol stated in a declaration.

Transnet and TotalEnergies were not instantly available to comment.

The disagreement has its roots in a 1967 agreement in between the then South African federal government and Total, which developed an inland crude oil refinery at a time when coastal refineries were having a hard time to meet inland need.

To protect the participation of Overall in the inland refinery Natref, the federal government put in place a pipeline tariff structure that would match the expenses of a seaside processing facility.

Sasol, which was established as a state-owned business in 1950 and privatised in 1979, owns 63,64% of Natref, with TotalEnergies holding the remainder.

(source: Reuters)