South Africa’s dependence on fuel imports to multiply

Bloomberg

South Africa’s monthly petroleum product imports are expected to as much as triple by next year from pre-pandemic levels as domestic refineries close, according to energy consultant Citac.
Africa’s biggest industrialised nation already relies on imports to meet up to 60% of its fuel demand, and any
increase in shipments will require improvements to existing storage facilities, ports
and pipelines, Citac said.
On top of that, a clean-fuels policy set to take effect next year raises the likelihood that refineries unable to meet the new standards will have to shut permanently, potentially leaving just over a third of the nation’s peak processing capacity still operating, the consultant said.
“These closures are significant and mostly in response to the CF2 regulations,” Citac said, referring to the policy.
African governments and industry are working on a continent-wide standard to cap the amount of sulfur in gasoline and diesel that
could require nearly $16 billion in infrastructure upgrades. South Africa is on a faster track to implement the higher-spec rules, but its refinery capacity has already been hit by a range of obstacles such as unplanned closures and crimped supplies.
The shutdown of the Engen oil refinery, a lack of feedstock for state-owned PetroSA’s gas-to-liquids plant and an explosion at Glencore’s Cape Town refinery have all affected capacity already curtailed by the pandemic.