The fuel crisis in December did nobody any favours, least of all the often-criticised petroleum industry. Worst of all was the damage to the country's image as a well-regulated society that is due to host soccer's showpiece in 2010. Critically, the fuel shortage came at the time South Africa was preparing to host holidaymakers from all over the world.

It was also the time when South Africa was at last moving to outlaw leaded petrol and diesel fuel with ultra-high sulphur content. This was a long-planned development by the petroleum companies that should have been planned to the month degree. Instead we had chaos!

What also caught everybody off guard at this time was the shortage of aviation jet fuel because this was not part of the new fuel requirements, which had required significant upgrades at the refineries. The repercussions in terms of cost and inconvenience certainly did not endear the public to airlines, which have also been dogged by irritating strikes in recent months.

Of course, the media hype around the crisis at annual vacation time fuelled the situation as everybody rushed to fill their fuel tanks, even when it was not really necessary, compounding an unacceptable situation in what is the best-run country on the continent.

The crisis also came at a critical time for certain sectors of the agricultural sector, resulting in many column centimeters of emotional outpouring about financial strain and job losses.

The disparity in the media statements from the various involved parties was astounding. On one hand the government was castigating the petroleum industry for not holding 25 days of stock, for which they are paid 3,8c a litre from the price of the finished product. The industry, on the other hand said they did, in fact, have 25 days stock, but only a percentage was in a finished state, the rest being "in process" or crude oil.

Evidently the holding of "strategic stock" is based on what is now supposedly only a "gentlemen's agreement" between the industry and government. According to Nhlanhla Gumede, the Department of Mineral and Energy's chief director of hydrocarbons, during negotiations between the industry and government the original request from the industry was compensation for holding 30 days stock, but the government finally agreed on supporting a 25-day stock level.

Now we have to wait for the outcome of an investigation by Competition Tribunal deputy chairman, Marumo Moerane, to establish what really caused the shortage of petrol, diesel and jet fuel in December. It will be interesting to see if Moerane's pronouncements involve compensation for consumers.

The new year will see revised oil regulations kicking in to play a role in preventing a recurrence of December's fuel crisis as industry players will be licenced for the first time and compelled to share information, which they previously guarded closely as being "too strategic".

Another aspect of the new oil laws will be the Petroleum Pipelines Act, effective from October, which is aimed at introducing measures to regulate private sector ownership and operation of petroleum pipelines. The Act says that third parties must be given access on "commercially reasonable" terms on uncommitted storage and pipeline loading capacity.

A further development on the fuel front that is making the headlines is a call for biofuel options. There is a push for the government to introduce a law to stimulate the introduction of locally-produced biofuels for blending with normal fuels. This follows government statements that they are considering introducing biofuel, made from plant matter, as a gas or in liquid form, as an alternative or additive to normal fuels obtained from petroleum or coal.

The protagonists for biofuel see the product as a serious option to solve the problem of surplus maize and as a contributor to achieving goals in terms of renewable energy sources.