Which petroleum or fuel licence do I need?
The Petroleum Products Act 120 of 1977 requires a licence for manufacturing, wholesaling and retailing petroleum products, plus a site licence for the premises. Which one you need depends on what you do with the fuel: refine or blend it, sell it on in bulk, or dispense it to end users. Most operations need two licences, not one.
What will you actually do with the fuel?
How this is decided in law
Petroleum licensing in South Africa is governed by the Petroleum Products Act 120 of 1977 as amended, and administered through the licensing regulations. Section 2A makes it an offence to manufacture, wholesale or retail a petroleum product, or to hold or operate a site for those purposes, without the applicable licence. The Act creates four licence types and most operations need more than one.
A manufacturing licence covers refining, blending and any process that changes the specification of a product. A wholesale licence covers bulk supply to resellers and bulk consumers. A retail licence covers dispensing to end users, typically at a forecourt. A site licence covers the premises and its infrastructure, and is held in respect of the land rather than the business.
The distinction between the site licence and the trading licence is the single biggest source of stalled applications. The site licence follows the land, so a change of tenant does not move it, and a lapsed site licence blocks the trading licence of the operator standing on it. Before you lodge anything, the site's licence status, holder and permitted activities must be verified.
Assessment focuses on four things: whether you have the technical capacity to operate safely and to specification, whether the operation is financially viable, whether the site has the necessary land use and environmental approvals, and whether the transformation and small business development objectives in the Act are advanced. Applications are published for comment and objections from existing operators are common in saturated areas.
Environmental and land use approvals are the practical critical path for anything new. Bulk storage above the listed thresholds, and the construction of facilities for the storage and handling of dangerous goods, are listed activities under the NEMA listing notices, which means environmental authorisation must be obtained. Land use rights under SPLUMA and the local scheme have to be in place. Lodging a licence application before those are secured wastes months.
Own-use storage sits outside trading licensing, because there is no sale of the product. That exemption is narrower than operators assume: selling fuel to a contractor working on your site, or to an associated company, is a sale, and the trading licence requirement follows. Where own use is genuine, the regulatory burden shifts to the installation itself, through fire, storage and environmental requirements.
Imports and exports add trade control on top of petroleum licensing. Permits are issued under the International Trade Administration Act 71 of 2002 and their conditions have to match both the licence and the customs classification of the product. Mismatches are the usual reason consignments are held at a port of entry rather than cleared.
Our petroleum licensing fees are fixed and agreed in writing before work starts, with regulator fees included. We tell you at the outset which approvals form the critical path and in what order they should be lodged, because the sequence determines the timeline far more than the drafting does.
| What you do | Licences required | Timeline | Our fixed fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Refine, blend or manufacture | Manufacturing licence + site licence | 6 – 12 months | R145,000 – R240,000 |
| Bulk supply to resellers | Wholesale licence + site licence | 4 – 8 months | R65,000 – R110,000 |
| Forecourt sales to the public | Retail licence + site licence | 4 – 8 months | R65,000 – R110,000 |
| Trade from a third party's licensed site | Trading licence only | 3 – 6 months | R45,000 – R75,000 |
| Import or export fuel | Wholesale licence + trade permits | 4 – 8 months | R85,000 – R145,000 |
| Own-use storage under 30,000 litres | No trading licence; storage approvals only | 2 – 4 weeks to confirm | R18,000 – R32,000 |
| Own-use storage 30,000 – 500,000 litres | Environmental and storage approvals | 4 – 9 months | R65,000 – R125,000 |
| Bulk storage over 500,000 litres | Environmental authorisation, emission licence where applicable | 9 – 18 months | R145,000 – R285,000 |
The process, step by step
- 1Licence scoping
We establish exactly which licences your operation needs, and whether the site licence position supports the trading licence you want.
- 2Site verification
Zoning, land use rights, existing licence holder and permitted activities are verified before any application is lodged.
- 3Parallel approvals
Environmental authorisation, emission licensing and municipal approvals are started in the right order so they do not queue behind each other.
- 4Application pack
The licence application is prepared with the technical, financial, safety and transformation annexures the regulator actually assesses.
- 5Public process
We manage publication, comment and any objections from existing operators, with substantive responses rather than holding letters.
- 6Issue and conditions
On issue we work through the licence conditions with you so the operation starts compliant rather than remediating later.
Questions people ask
Do I need both a site licence and a retail licence?
Yes, in almost every case. The site licence covers the premises and infrastructure; the retail licence covers the business of dispensing fuel. Both must be in place before trading.
Can I trade from a site licensed in someone else's name?
Yes, provided the site licence is valid and covers your activity, and the arrangement between you and the site licence holder is properly documented.
How long does a fuel licence take?
Three to eight months for a trading licence on an existing licensed site. Six to twelve months for manufacturing, and longer where environmental authorisation has to be obtained first.
Do I need a licence to store diesel for my own fleet?
Generally no trading licence, because you are not selling the product. Storage, fire and environmental requirements still apply, and they get significantly heavier above 30,000 litres.
What blocks fuel licence applications most often?
Site problems. A lapsed site licence, the wrong permitted activity, missing land use rights or an outstanding environmental authorisation will hold an otherwise complete application indefinitely.
Can an existing operator object to my application?
Yes. Applications are published and objections are common in areas that are already well served. Objections are answerable, but they add time and the response has to be substantive.
Is a separate permit needed to import fuel?
Yes. Trade permits are issued under the International Trade Administration Act and sit alongside the wholesale licence. The permit conditions and the customs classification must match.
Are your fees fixed?
Yes. We quote a fixed fee in writing before work starts, with regulator fees included, so there is no hourly billing and no milestone surprises.
Registration 2016/074955/07. Registered with the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and an applicant for EAPASA registration. Regulatory and licensing advisory across South Africa — Pretoria offices, serving Gauteng, the Western Cape and all other provinces. 087 153 6207 · support@dlegal.co.za
This page is general information on the applicable legislation, not legal advice on your specific facts. Fee ranges are indicative; your fixed fee is agreed in writing before any work starts.