The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) on Tuesday granted an extension for public comments on Sasol Gas’s application to set maximum tariffs for piped gas until March 18, and would be continuing the public hearing into the matter only thereafter.

Nersa would confirm the date of the public hearing in due course.

The decision followed an urgent extension request by the Manufacturing Circle on Monday, stating that additional time was needed to allow for consideration of the application by the relevant stakeholders, citing that the notice for the public hearing to be held on February 19 was only published on February 15.

“This allows stakeholders less than two working days to make preparations in response to what is a highly technical application that will require detailed analysis and canvassing of evidence and opinion,” said Manufacturing Circle CE Coenraad Bezuidenhout.

Sasol Gas submitted an application to Nersa on December 23, 2012, seeking approval for the proposed maximum price for piped gas for the period March 26, 2014 to June 30, 2017, as well as approval for the proposed tariff for its transmission pipelines for the period March 26, 2014 to June 30, 2015.

Stakeholders were subsequently invited to make verbal representations during a public hearing scheduled for February 19.

This followed the publishing of the application on Nersa’s website on February 4 to give stakeholders the opportunity to review and submit comments for consideration.

In addition, on February 8, Nersa published both the preliminary maximum gas price and preliminary transmission tariff for public comment, with a closing date for the comments set at March 4.

Bezuidenhout claimed that early analysis indicated that, as the application currently stood, certain industrial users could see their gas costs increasing by between 30% and 40% at current pricing.

Meanwhile, Sasol Gas said that, while implementation of new standard prices would result in some customers paying more, the actual price it intended to charge would be lower than the ceiling price for which it had applied.

“This application is the result of an extensive and ongoing consultation process, through which we have sought to balance price and customer retention, while maintaining a sustainable gas industry in South Africa,” said Sasol group media manager Alex Anderson.