Almost Half of South Africa’s Oil Refining Seen Shut Until 2022
(Bloomberg) -- South African plants owned by Glencore Plc and Petroliam Nasional Bhd that make up 43% of the nation's oil-refining capacity are expected to stay shut until at least 2022, according to energy consultant Citac.
Astron Energy Ltd., a unit of Glencore, has yet to restart the 100,000 barrel-a-day Cape Town refinery after a deadly explosion and fire in July. Petronas unit Engen Holdings Ltd.'s Durban plant also stopped production in December after a fire.
The closures will force South Africa to rely heavily on fuel imports. All four of South Africa's oil refineries -- with a total capacity of more than 500,000 barrels a day -- have had accidents or are under review, with the industry already hit hard by the Covid pandemic. A pending national clean-fuels policy is also likely to increase costs to upgrade machinery.
Read more: Engen Considering Several Options for South African Refinery
Engen said options are being considered for its 120,000 barrel-a-day plant after a local news website reported it's expected to shut in 2023 and may be converted into a fuel-storage terminal. If the plan is to close in two years, “it would not make economic sense to invest into bringing it back up,” said Elitsa Georgieva, an analyst at Citac.
Astron and Engen didn't immediately reply to emailed requests for comment.
The Sapref refinery, a joint venture of Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc, also faces uncertainty as Shell reviews its shareholding in the business. Sasol Ltd. has also been deciding on plans for its Natref refinery since conducting a review of the plant.
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
-
Signature Play: The Classic Cocktail Is Dead. Or Is It?
Classic cocktails are disappearing from India's cocktail menus. But they're still being ordered, taught to bartenders and borrowed from. So, who's really having the last drink?
-
A New Samvat Wishlist: Inclusive Prosperity And Human Development
India has strengthened its economic foundations through infrastructure, digital access and enterprise. Its next growth chapter must deepen productivity, create better livelihoods and widen participation in prosperity.
-
Love, Sex Aur Dhokha: The Audacious Plot To Spy On Jensen Huang
A Taipei dinner, a Singapore chip buyer and a suspected Chinese asset: inside the alleged spy operation that got close to NVIDIA's Jensen Huang.
-
Ten Things I Learnt This Samvat
Patience can be a trap. Cheap stocks can stay cheap. Leverage can wipe you out. What did Samvat 2082 teach us? Niraj Shah writes on 10 lessons from the year gone by.
-
Talking Points This Week: Tech Nerves, FII Buying, And A Faraway Banking Shock
The global markets are not shining this Diwali. The exception in the large markets is, India.
-
Midterm Rally Lasted A Day. The Hard Reality Of A Divided US May Last Two Years | Opinion
Between a contested AI boom, a debt ceiling that arrives in 2027 and a president with every incentive to act alone, the next two years may prove more volatile than the first day's rally suggests.
-
Blue Wave Will Derail the AI Trade but Won't Dismantle the AI Era | Unhedged Position
The Democrats' sweep of the US Congress will see politics collide with economic forces both over the long and short term.
-
It's Time To Take The GST Council's Bet On Trust Global
Payment records can prove India's services exports, and clear, proportionate rules can bring foreign digital sellers into the tax net.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
