An unfortunate practice in the Petroleum industry involves selling mixed products at the lowest possible price and although this sounds normal when thinking about turnover of a business, this is not the case in the petroleum industry – the red lights should be flashing very clearly when cheap petroleum products see the light. Gerrit Prinsloo, MD of GASPET, notes: “In this industry as wholesalers we all buy from the same refineries at calculated prices therefore we know when we see ‘cheap’ petroleum products getting sold around us it cannot be pure product!”.
By selling products that’s not 100% pure; referred to as “spiked product” in the industry, often means that the pure product has been treated or mixed with another product after reception from the gantry to dilute it making it more profitable for the seller. Common products used to mix pure petroleum with include paraffin, oil, LSR, Jet A1 and even water. Obviously this is not good practice and it’s punishable by law.
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) tax all petroleum products to a specific amount per litre. Therefore it could be understood that spiking pure petroleum products is not only unlawful but a means of tax evasion. Petroleum products such as Diesel and Petrol 93/95 are taxed to a certain amount with exemption to paraffin as it is claimed to be a household product. This means that paraffin is the most common spiking agent used to dilute Diesel specifically. The reasons for doing this could result in massive financial gain, but this is unlawful and severely punishable to those who partake in such unabating acts. It is worth noting that businesses and individuals who take-on and receive/store or even transport illegal or spiked petroleum products with or without knowing it’s spiked can be found guilty too!
With this in mind GASPET’s priority is to stay true and trade lawfully within the industry. Transparency is a very important factor as it showcases the legal trade of product. They also make sure to always abide by the law no matter what the circumstances and anyone who is, or become a client of GASPET can be rest assured they are buying the purest form of petroleum products possible. GASPET treats all their loyal clients with utmost care and respect and go out of their way to ensure the best possible service.
“To run dry in this industry is unacceptable and we will do anything to avoid this happening to our clients” Prinsloo says. “We strive to serve our customers with the best service and we make sure to meet their demands and deliver on-time every time” he adds. Not only do they lawfully abide in trading with petroleum but provide these products with the best service possible. Taking responsibility to educate the wholesaler, retailer and end-user in the correct practices of the Petroleum Industry. This imperative part of their business make them 100% transparent and ultimately reaches out to everyone who ever need petroleum products.