Deputy Director General for Minerals and Petroleum Regulation, Tseliso Maqubela, has asserted that South Africa is in need of a new mega fuel refinery that can pump out at least 400,000 barrels of refined petroleum a day.
At it stands, South Africa relies heavily on imported fuels following a spate of refinery closures in recent years, leaving the country highly vulnerable to global tensions in the oil market as well as supply constraints.
For instance, in October last year state-owned port and rail authority Transnet warned that the country could face possible fuel shortages owing to its dependence on overseas products.
Mere days later, the City of Cape Town experienced exactly such emergency when an unplanned outage at the Astron Energy refinery in Milnerton, coupled with inclement weather, complicated the delivery of fuels to the metro’s service stations.
More recently, a fire at the National Petroleum Refiners of South Africa refinery impeded the continued supply of fuel to the nation’s biggest airport, OR Tambo International.
While solutions have been found to mitigate the problem for the time being, industry experts used the situation to again highlight the need for South Africa to stand on its own feet when it comes to supplying fuel.
No dates set
The new mega refinery would, in theory, solve many of the country’s fuel woes.
Maqubela alluded that more storage and the development of fuel terminals at the Island View petrochemical hub in Durban, as well as at the Port of Ngqura in Nelson Mandela Bay, are vital for boosting supply security in the short term.
However, he argued that a new mega refinery with a daily capacity higher than 400,000 barrels is still required to ensure long-term stability of the country’s fuel sector.
The mega refinery would be more than double the size of the largest fuel producer in South Africa at the moment, which is the 180,000-barrel-a-day Sapref plant purchased by government from energy giants Shell and BP for a symbolic R1 in 2024.
While Sapref hasn’t been operational since 2022, government is in the process of rebuilding and upgrading it alongside the PetroSA refinery to produce a cleaner grade of fuel by 2027.
Sapref has been identified as one of the potential facilities that could be transformed into the mega refinery, while government has also proposed setting up a brand-new plant in the Coega Special Economic Zone in the Eastern Cape.
“We need to build a refinery, whether it’s at Sapref or elsewhere,” said Maqubela, as quoted by Engineering News.
“[And] we can’t have a Sapref that comes back at 180,000 barrels per day. Sapref must come back at 400,000 barrels per day or more.”
He also indicated that government is looking to partner with a regional oil company on this daring venture.
“What would give us comfort is if . . . Sonangol [of Angola] can be part of rebuilding Sapref, or Botswana Oil,” said Maqubela.
He specified that Angola has already emerged as a significant supplier of crude product to South Africa.
Before ending his presentation, the Deputy Director General also informed the public that work is underway on a Petroleum Sector Masterplan which is planned to be completed in the coming financial year.
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