How to use this resource
The glossary contains useful petroleum, pricing and infrastructure terminology, but department names, levies, methodologies and technical usage may change over time.
South African downstream petroleumPetroleum glossary
A working glossary of petroleum, pricing, infrastructure and regulatory terminology.
Terminology and department names change over time. Definitions should be read in the context of the relevant current legislation or technical standard.
Resource review status: This UFuel page was last modified on 2 August 2026. The historical archive is retained for reference; current official sources take precedence.
Open the historical UFuel archive
Glossary of Terms
Glossary of Terms
Basic Fuel Price
Cost, Insurance and Freight
Consumer Price Index
Coal-To-Liquid
Department of Minerals and Energy
Department of Energy
Free on Board
Free on Road
Gross Domestic Product
Gas-To-Liquid
In-Bond-Landed-Cost
International Energy Agency
Liquefied Petroleum Gas
Lead Replacement Petrol
National Energy Regulator of South Africa
The Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
Parts per million
Statistics South Africa
Unleaded Petrol
United States Dollar
Above Ground Storage Tank Inspection
Above Ground Storage Tank
Close Interval Potential Survey
Cathodic Protection
Cathodic Protection Surveyor
Copper Sulfate Electrode
Direct Vertical Groundbed
Forced Drainage unit
Geographical Information System
Global Positioning System
Insulation Flange
Level of Protection Survey
Natural Drainage Unit
Pipeline Current Mapper
Pipeline Management Program
Remote Monitoring System
Stay Current
Shallow Horizontal Groundbed
Sulfate Reducing Bacteria
Test Post
Transformer Rectifier Unit
Definition The Basic Fuel Price (BFP) is based on the import parity pricing principle i.e. what is would cost a South African importer of petrol to buy the petrol from an international refinery, transport the product from that refinery, insure the product against losses at sea and land the product on South African shores.
Demurrage is the time spent in a harbour to load and discharge a cargo – hourly rent of vessel, but not operating
- International crude oil prices
- International product supply/demand balances
- Product inventory levels
- Geo-politics
- Rand/US Dollar exchange rate
- International refining margins
- Weather patterns in the Northern Hemisphere
Incremental Inland Transport Recovery levy to finance incremental inland transport costs due to the 100% capacity utilisation of the Durban/Johannesburg petroleum products pipeline
Petroleum products levy to reimburse the pipeline users for the applicable NERSA tariff on transporting fuel through the pipeline – levy set by the Ministers of Energy and of Finance in line with the expenditure budget of NERSA
IP Tracer dye levy to reimburse the oil industry for buying IP tracer dye and to inject it into IP to curtail the mixing of IP and diesel (loss to the Fiscus)
Slate levy to finance the cumulative under recovery of the industry. Only applicable when the cumulative Slate balance exceeds R250 million (under recovery)
Fuel levy Tax levied by Government (Minister of Finance)
Custom and Exercise levy a duty collected in terms of the Customs Union Agreement
Road Accident Fund (RAF) levy To compensate for people involved in vehicle accidents.
Demand Side Management levy (DSML) Introduced in 2006 to curtail the use of ULP 95 in the inland market.
Related Industry Intelligence
Continue with another petroleum reference.
Use the related resources to move from the current topic to pricing, legislation, working rules, terminology, official links or frequently asked questions.
Fuel Prices
Official current-source access plus the retained UFuel historical price archive.
Fuel Zones
Understand fuel-pricing zones and verify the applicable current source.
Petroleum Acts
Legislation library with clear current-source and historical-document status.
Petroleum Regulations
Regulations, amendments and archived policy material with verification notices.
Working Rules
Historical pricing-methodology resources linked to current official sources.
Glossary of Terms
Petroleum, pricing, regulatory and infrastructure terminology with review context.
Industry Links
Official regulators, government resources and a retained historical directory.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common licensing questions separated from time-sensitive historical answers.