Sasol, my bellweather for the future of non-traditional fossil fuels (they’re the South African company that’s a world leader in coal-to-liquids) is retrenching, according to Bloomberg:

A recent deterioration in market conditions means Sasol now expects “a moderate reduction in earnings” for the year ending June 30, compared with a previous forecast of “robust growth”, it said in a statement to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange News Service today. The company is also reviewing its 70 billion rand ($6.9 billion) capital expenditure plan over the next three years, it said.

“They are going into cash conservation mode,” Nedcor Securities analyst Mohamed Kharva said by phone from Cape Town. “Only time will tell how aggressive the decline in oil prices will be.”