The 115-year-old company backed by a billionaire taking over South Africa

Astron Energy has become a major player in South Africa’s petrol station industry, with a growing network of forecourts and a local refinery that produces 100,000 barrels of refined petroleum products daily.

The company is a relatively new face in the local market, with filling stations that bear an orange-and-purple colour theme.

While Astron officially entered the South African market in 2018, the company’s full history dates back over 115 years,

Its roots trace back all the way to 1911, when The Texas Company (Texaco) imported its first shipment of crude oil and petroleum products into South Africa to supply the country’s growing transport and commercial needs.

In 1936, Texaco entered a joint venture with the Standard Oil Company of California (Socal), which led to the creation of Caltex. Socal later rebranded as Chevron in 1985.

That same year in 1936, motorists were introduced to the first Caltex petrol stations. The petrol company later opened a lubricant manufacturing plant in Durban in 1955.

In 1966, Caltex expanded its business in South Africa even further with the construction of a refinery in Milnerton in Cape Town, which operates to this day.

Caltex went on to become one of the most recognisable petrol brands in the country alongside other big names like Shell, BP, TotalEnergies, and Engen.

However, in 2017, the global commodity trading company Glencore entered South Africa’s fuel sector, purchasing Chevron Southern Africa’s assets for $1 billion.

This gave Glencore control of the Caltex brand and its assets, such as its forecourts and its refinery in Cape Town.

The refinery currently has a production capacity of 100,000 barrels of refined petroleum products every day, including petrol, diesel, liquified gas, and jet fuel.

The site supplies a large portion of South Africa’s domestic fuel market while also contributing to exports for neighboring countries.

It is the third largest fuel refinery in South Africa and is estimated to generate R95 billion per year to the economy.

Astron Energy’s expansion in South Africa

Glencore continued to operate its petrol stations under the Caltex name via a licensing agreement until 2022, when it announced a massive rebranding campaign that would convert all its forecourts to Astron Energy.

This process is still ongoing as of the time of writing, but is nearing its completion, as Astron has already rebranded over 600 of its 850 Caltex stations around South Africa.

One of the key drivers behind Astron’s expansion in South Africa is Glencore’s leadership, including its former and current CEOs.

Ivan Glasenberg, born in Johannesburg in 1957, served as the Chief Executive Officer of Glencore from 2002 to 2021.

He studied at the University of the Witwatersrand and has an estimated net worth of over $8.8 billion.

His successor, Gary Nagle, has a similar background, as he was born in South Africa in 1975 and also studied at Wits University, qualifying as a chartered accountant in 1999.

He joined Glencore in 2000 and later became the head of its coal assets before taking the mantle as CEO in July 2021.

Since then, Astron has spent an estimated R4 billion rebranding its Caltex forecourts. John Bailey, Astron’s Acting General Manager for Retail, Sales and Marketing, said the rebrand is intended to give stations a more modern look while improving customer experience.