SAPREF refinery to pause operations indefinitely in March
South Africa's largest refinery, SAPREF, a 50/50 joint venture between oil majors bp and Shell will pause operations indefinitely on March 22 as its owners consider selling the plant.
Situated in the east coast city of Durban, SAPREF has a nameplate capacity of 180,000 bpd and accounts for around 35% of the refining capacity in Africa's most industrialized economy, a net importer of petroleum products.
"The decision has been taken to allow an informed finalization on the various options available to the shareholders, a sale option being the most preferred," said the statement.
"Until decisions about the future of the plant have been made – including a possible change of ownership – the SAPREF shareholders are unable to commit to further investment in the refinery," the operators said.
In September, South Africa's petroleum industry body SAPIA warned the country's refinery capacity could become obsolete within two years as the government pushed to introduce rules meant to reduce sulfur emissions from 2023.
The South African Petroleum Industry Association, which represents oil firms such as bp and Shell that operate local refineries, has deadlocked with government in talks to finance the upgrade of six refineries to cleaner fuels at an estimated cost of $3.9 B.
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