Hon Speaker, the South African crude oil supply is on a very sound footing, thanks in part to government's policy approach which allowed both public and private sector players to operate in this industry. Recently, we have witnessed increasing diversity in sources of crude oil supply to our country. This is in keeping with the government's energy policy objective of achieving security through a diversity of sources.
A significant quantity of crude oil still comes from the Middle East. However, African countries have been an ever-increasing source of crude oil to South Africa. In 2012 over 40% - that's about 56 million barrels - of our country's crude oil needs were supplied by African countries. In this regard, it was mainly from Nigeria and Angola. Imports from these countries were 23% and 18% respectively. This translates to about 200 000 barrels per day being sourced from within the continent. Of course, this impacts very positively and significantly on intra-African trade.
Turning to Ghana, it is a well-known fact that significant crude oil reserves have been found in Ghana. South Africa believes that there is huge potential for mutual benefit between our two countries in this regard. South Africa can assure Ghana of crude oil demand and we can also get assurance from Ghana as a source of crude oil supply.
Year-to-year figures show that imports from Ghana have already reached 6,8 million barrels, which has increased trade figures between our two countries. Members may recall that we signed a co-operation agreement with Ghana which, among other aspects, facilitates energy co-operation between our two nations. At this stage, Sasol imports more crude oil from Ghana than any other oil company in South Africa. Going forward, we expect that this pattern will change due to increased co-operation between South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria and Angola.I thank you for your attention.