Nearly half of South Africa’s oil refining capacity remains idle, reflecting a sharp decline over the past five years due to a combination of plant accidents and chronic underinvestment.
This has forced the country to rely on imports for more than 60% of its fuel needs, according to state-owned logistics firm Transnet SOC Ltd.
In the first quarter of 2025 alone, South Africa imported 4.2 million tons of refined petroleum products, with annual imports projected to reach approximately 15.5 million tons—almost double Kenya’s 8.9 million tons and more than twice Nigeria’s 6.4 million tons, according to energy consultancy CITAC.
The surge in imports comes as several major refineries remain offline. The country’s largest refinery, Sapref—owned by the Central Energy Fund (CEF)—is shut, removing 180,000 barrels per day from the system.
Engen’s refinery, with a capacity of 120,000 barrels per day and now owned by global trader Vitol, is also closed.
Sasol’s Natref plant, capable of producing 108,000 barrels daily, is offline due to an outage, while PetroSA’s gas-to-liquids facility, also under the CEF, has halted production, removing an additional 45,000 barrels per day.
Currently, only two refineries remain operational: Sasol’s Secunda facility, which produces 150,000 barrels per day from coal and gas, and Glencore’s Astron Energy refinery, producing 100,000 barrels daily. Together, these facilities represent less than half of South Africa’s original refining capacity.
In an effort to rebuild its refining infrastructure, the South African government last year acquired the idle Sapref facility from Shell Plc and BP Plc.
However, with domestic output severely limited, the country continues to depend on international fuel traders to meet its energy needs.
Among those stepping in is Swiss commodities trader Gunvor, which was recently shortlisted to acquire Shell’s retail fuel network in South Africa, according to sources familiar with the matter.
