Motorists are advised not to panic-buy petrol, as the country’s fuel stocks are deemed sufficient, despite the closure of the SA Petroleum Refineries (Sapref) on Tuesday.
Panic buying of fuel ensued on Tuesday, with long queues reported at Durban petrol stations as several ran out of fuel while others were closed. On Wednesday, there were further, anecdotal reports of motorists arriving at petrol stations in other provinces in their numbers, to fill up their tanks.
Avhapfani Tshifularo, executive director of the SA Petroleum Industry Association (Sapia) told Business Day that the “preliminary assessment indicates industry has sufficient stock” but he noted the industry is “constantly monitoring the situation”.
The refinery, the largest in Southern Africa, with the capacity to produce a third of SA’s required fuel, declared force majeure to customers in a notice late on Tuesday as it closed its doors amid rampant unrest and looting in KwaZulu-Natal.
Force majeure is a common contractual clause which can be invoked when unforeseeable circumstances prevent someone from fulfilling a contract.
Sapref, which is jointly owned by Shell and BP, said it was unable to sustain refinery operations as suppliers of “critical” materials had suspended deliveries to the refinery due to safety concerns for their staff and damage to their vehicles
The refinery has 180,000-barrel-a-day capacity, about 35% of the country’s daily fuel consumption. Tshifularo however said this is not necessarily how much the refinery was producing on a daily basis.
The only other such facility in the province, Engen’s Wentworth refinery, has remained shut since an explosion in December. In the Western Cape the Astron (formerly Chevron) refinery also remains shut after a deadly incident in July 2020. In both cases refined product is imported in order to supply customers.
Synthetic fuels and chemicals producer Sasol said its 160,000 barrel per day (bbl/d) Secunda synfuels facility and 110,000 bbl/d Natref refinery — which it owns a 63% stake in — are stable and running as normal. “However, we are experiencing some disruption in some of our supply routes where the protest action is ongoing. We are carefully monitoring developments in these areas.”
Sasol further said a handful of its retail sites in KZN and Gauteng had been damaged by unrest.
The group has activated emergency response protocols and is working with law enforcement to protect its people, property and infrastructure.
Reggie Sibiya, CEO of the Fuel Retailers Association of Southern Africa, said members currently had sufficient fuel and shortages had only been experienced in hotspots of unrest that could not be reached.
The Automobile Association’s Leyton Beard said the AA’s view is that if Sapref is unable to refine and deliver product, then logically there are likely to be supply. problems down the line.
He, however, urged motorists not to panic-buy.
“If people don’t need to buy fuel, they shouldn’t buy fuel,” he said. “We don’t want to be a situation where essential workers like healthcare workers, or paramedics or firemen or policemen don’t have fuel for their own vehicles to get to work [or where] essential vehicles run dry.”
Update: July 14 2021
This story has been updated with new information.
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