JOHANNESBURG, Sept. 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hurricane Laura
made landfall on 27 August 2020 near
Sasol's Lake Charles Chemical Complex in Southwest Louisiana, and is one of the
strongest hurricanes on record to hit the
United States. Significant property and utility
infrastructure damage has been experienced across the
region.
Sasol's more than 800 Lake Charles employees are safe; however,
hundreds of employees have suffered significant damage to their
homes and remain in temporary housing while utility restoration and
repair work is in progress. Sasol is assisting employees with home
preservation, essential supplies and financial aid. In addition
Sasol is supporting the local authorities, utility partners and
citizen groups in community and infrastructure recovery
efforts.
Sasol has completed damage assessments of the complex's 14
manufacturing facilities and associated utilities and
infrastructure. While there was moderate wind damage to cooling
towers and some insulation and building damage, there is no
apparent damage to major process equipment, utilities or
infrastructure. This will need to be confirmed once site electrical
power is completely restored and all systems are tested.
Removal of debris, repair work and startup planning continue on
the site. Regular employee work shifts have resumed, and several
hundred contractors are working on site to expedite readiness for
startup.
The critical path for operational restart is the
re-establishment of reliable external electrical power service from
Entergy, the regional power provider. The Sasol Lake Charles site
is currently partially energized. Entergy expects full load
service, industrial-level reliability power, to be available to
Sasol and other industrial customers in the area by early-to-mid
October.
Some site utility systems are currently online, with startup of
the remaining utilities planned before reliable power is enabled.
Once Entergy declares reliable, full load power is restored, Sasol
will activate a coordinated startup of the site's two ethane
crackers, and derivative units.
The low-density polyethylene unit, the last of the Lake Charles
Chemicals Project units to come online, did not experience any
significant storm impacts and commissioning activities have
resumed. The unit's beneficial operation sequence will be initiated
once the site is fully energized.
Sasol has Atlantic Named Wind Storm (ANWS) insurance coverage
for units under construction as well as operating units.
Sasol's progress toward securing a partner in its U.S. Base
Chemicals business is far advanced, and was not impacted by
Hurricane Laura.
For further information, please contact:
Sasol Investor Relations,
Feroza Syed, Chief Investor
Relations Officer
Direct telephone: +27 (0) 82 557 7740
investor.relations@sasol.com
Disclaimer - Forward-looking statements
Sasol may, in this document, make certain statements that are
not historical facts and relate to analyses and other information
which are based on forecasts of future results and estimates of
amounts not yet determinable. These statements may also relate to
our future prospects, expectations, developments and business
strategies. Examples of such forward-looking statements include,
but are not limited to, the impact of the novel coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic on Sasol's business, results of operations,
financial condition and liquidity and statements regarding the
effectiveness of any actions taken by Sasol to address or limit any
impact of COVID-19 on its business; statements regarding exchange
rate fluctuations, changing crude oil prices, volume growth,
increases in market share, total shareholder return, executing our
growth projects (including LCCP), oil and gas reserves, cost
reductions, our climate change strategy and business performance
outlook. Words such as "believe", "anticipate", "expect", "intend",
"seek", "will", "plan", "could", "may", "endeavour", "target",
"forecast" and "project" and similar expressions are intended to
identify such forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive
means of identifying such statements. By their very nature,
forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and
uncertainties, both general and specific, and there are risks that
the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking
statements will not be achieved. If one or more of these risks
materialise, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, our
actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. You
should understand that a number of important factors could cause
actual results to differ materially from the plans, objectives,
expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in such
forward-looking statements. These factors and others are discussed
more fully in our most recent annual report on Form 20-F filed on
24 August 2020 and in other filings
with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The list
of factors discussed therein is not exhaustive; when relying on
forward-looking statements to make investment decisions, you should
carefully consider both these factors and other uncertainties and
events. Forward-looking statements apply only as of the date on
which they are made, and we do not undertake any obligation to
update or revise any of them, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
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SOURCE Sasol Limited