Projects published on Beta are not final and may contain programming errors. They are for public testing and comment only. We welcome your feedback. For final products, please visit www.eia.gov.

South Africa's Key Energy Statistics world rank
Total Primary Energy Consumption
2014
5.5
Quadrillion Btu
19
Total Primary Energy Production
2014
5.293
Quadrillion Btu
21
Primary Coal Exports
2014
86,054
Thousand Short Tons
6
Total Electricity Exports
2014
13.836
Billion Kilowatthours
14
Primary Coal Production
2014
288,142
Thousand Short Tons
7
See more rankings ›

Analysis - Energy Sector Highlights Last updated: April 29, 2015

  • South Africa has a large energy-intensive coal mining industry. The country has limited proved reserves of oil and natural gas and uses its large coal deposits to meet most of its energy needs, particularly in the electricity sector. South Africa also has a sophisticated synthetic fuels industry, producing gasoline and diesel fuels from the Secunda coal-to-liquids (CTL) and Mossel Bay gas-to-liquids (GTL) plants.
  • PetroSA, a South African state-owned company, operates upstream oil and natural gas producing assets in South Africa, along with the GTL plant in Mossel Bay. Sasol, a privately-owned company based in South Africa, operates the Secunda CTL plant, has a majority interest in the Natref oil refinery, partially owns the pipeline transporting natural gas from Mozambique to South Africa, and is involved in coal mining.
  • South Africa has the world's ninth-largest amount of recoverable coal reserves and holds 95% of Africa's total coal reserves. Environmental groups continue to target the industry for air, land, and water pollution. However, coal consumption in South Africa is expected to continue to increase as new coal-fired power stations are scheduled to come online to meet rising demand for electricity.
  • South Africa exports more than 25% of its coal production. Most of South Africa's coal exports are sent to Asia, with India being the largest recipient.
  • South Africa imports natural gas from Mozambique via pipeline to supply Sasol's Secunda CTL plant and to fuel some gas-fired power plants. South Africa produces a small volume of natural gas offshore, and it is mainly used to supply the Mossel Bay GTL plant.

read full analysis ›

Data