On 21 April 2026, the Portfolio Committee on Mineral and Petroleum Resources received a briefing from the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources on the current iteration of the SANPC Bill, which will now be subject to the scrutiny of the National Assembly.

In our October 2024 alert, we discussed the important aspects of the 2024 Bill as well as the anticipated next steps on its road to enactment. What follows is an analysis of some of the key updates made to the 2026 SANPC Bill.

A narrower mandate from energy champion to petroleum champion

The most notable change to the 2026 SANPC Bill is the narrowing of the SANPC’s mandate. The 2024 Bill described the SANPC as the state’s “energy champion” and facilitator of “energy infrastructure” across the energy value chain. By contrast, the 2026 Bill describes the SANPC as the state’s “petroleum champion” and facilitator of “petroleum infrastructure” across the energy value chain. This is supported by a definitional shift: the 2024 Bill included broad definitions of “energy”, “energy infrastructure” and “gas infrastructure”, whereas the 2026 SANPC Bill removes those definitions and instead defines “petroleum infrastructure” as infrastructure for the exploration, production, processing, transmission and distribution of petroleum.

The 2024 Bill also included a standalone object requiring the SANPC to support South Africa’s just energy transition. That standalone object is no longer included in the 2026 SANPC Bill, although the SANPC may still undertake renewable energy projects in terms of the country’s “decarbonisation agenda”. This is likely to be welcomed by industry participants who were concerned that the earlier drafting could overlap with the mandates of other state-owned entities, a concern noted in our October 2024 alert.

From permissive to mandatory asset transfer

The 2024 Bill provided that assets and rights held, or deemed to be held, by iGas, PetroSA and the Strategic Fuel Fund (SFF), or arising from joint ventures in terms of legislation, “may” be consolidated and transferred to the SANPC with the written concurrence of the relevant minister responsible for that organ of state or via agreement. The 2026 SANPC Bill draws a clearer distinction. It provides that assets and rights held, issued or deemed to have been issued or held by iGas, PetroSA and SFF “must” be consolidated and transferred to the SANPC, while assets and rights arising from a joint venture with another organ of state “may” be transferred with the written concurrence of the responsible minister.

This is an important change for M&A, project finance and commercial counterparties and codifies the now mandatory asset transfer requirement. The 2026 SANPC Bill also retains the transitional provision that all assets, rights, liabilities and obligations vesting in iGas, PetroSA and SFF on commencement of the 2026 SANPC Bill (which will subsequently become the SANPC Act) pass to the SANPC.

Narrowing of ministerial powers and approvals

The 2024 Bill contained a section which empowered the Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (Minister) to determine the SANPC’s rights over the petroleum upstream, midstream and downstream value chain for purposes of ensuring security of energy supply. This section does not appear in the 2026 Bill.

In addition, section 11 of the 2026 SANPC Bill does away with the requirement in the 2024 Bill that the approval of the Minister (acting in conjunction with the Minister of Finance) must first be obtained before the establishment of subsidiary companies to achieve the objects of the SANPC.

Lastly, and as mentioned above, in relation to the transfer of assets and rights issued or held or deemed to have been issued or held by iGas, PetroSA and SFF to the SANPC, such transfer no longer requires the written concurrence of the minister responsible. The implication being that, for example, the transfer of any exploration rights held by such parties under the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act 28 of 2002 (MPRDA) will only require ministerial approval in terms of section 11 of the MPRDA and not the additional written concurrence referenced under the 2024 Bill.

That said, the 2026 SANPC Bill maintains an important role for the Minister, namely that the SANPC may perform any other function that the Minister may direct in support of security of energy supply. The difference being that this function is narrower than the formulation as contained in the 2024 Bill, which referred to both security of energy supply and economic development.

Further alignment with the Upstream Act

The 2026 SANPC Bill is more closely aligned with the Upstream Petroleum Resources Development Act 23 of 2024 (Upstream Act) than the earlier version. The 2026 SANPC Bill expressly refers to the SANPC managing the state’s upstream exploration and production rights and pursuing the carried interest defined and referred to in sections 1 and 34 of the Upstream Act. Under section 34 of the Upstream Act, the state has a 20% carried interest in petroleum rights, with the SANPC being the designated state-owned entity responsible for the management of the state’s participation.

The 2026 Bill also provides that the SANPC will manage and control the state’s participation and interest, including the country’s share of petroleum received in kind or in cash. This aligns with section 34(5) of the Upstream Act, which allows the state to elect to take its proportionate share of petroleum production in kind or in cash.

The strategic stock function has also been broadened. Under the 2024 Bill, the SANPC was only tasked with management and commercialisation of the state’s strategic crude oil stockpile and crude oil storage facilities. Under the 2026 SANPC Bill, this function requires the management of the state’s strategic stocks and storage facilities more generally. This amendment is more closely aligned with section 36 of the Upstream Act, which requires a petroleum right holder to sell a percentage of petroleum to the SANPC or another designated state-owned entity to meet strategic stock requirements, with section 36 not being restricted to purely crude oil sales.

Looking forward

In line with the section 75 process, the 2026 SANPC Bill is now before the Portfolio Committee on Mineral and Petroleum Resources, which is tasked with drafting a programme to process the 2026 SANPC Bill further. Such programme will include public participation, after which the 2026 SANPC Bill may be amended, rejected or accepted.