Page 10 - DMEA Week 06 2023

DMEA REFINING DMEA

Astron Cape Town refinery

to resume production

SOUTH AFRICA GLENCORE-OWNED company Astron Energy business, and it remains our intention to
Energy reported on February 1 that it is set to safely restart by the end of Q4 this year . . .with
re-commission its 100,000 barrel per day (bpd) a key focus on maximising safety for the restart
Cape Town refinery. and beyond.”
Astron said regarding the Milnerton plant South Africa, which has been wrestling with
that “We are in the final steps of a safe full restart issues around supply of fuels, will see some ben-
... and plan to fully recommence the production efits from the restart. With most refining slates
of refined products for supply into the Western largely out of commission, shortages of petro-
Cape and the wider South African regions in the leum products are acute; however, a refinery
coming weeks.” back online will allow the country to ease its
Commitments to reopen the facility lie at logistical problems and lessen its dependence
odds with current trends in South Africa, where on foreign fuel imports.
due to incoming clean energy regulations oil Glencore’s CEO Gary Nagle said in 2022
and gas refineries are opting to shut rather than regarding reopening the facility that “It’s not just
invest in refurbishment and upgrades. a rebuild to what we had before. We’ve actually
The refinery had been closed since 2020, improved the refinery. We will be able to produce
when a deadly fire damaged the facility, killing additional products. We’ve changed the cost
two engineers in the process. Glencore had first base. And we believe that, certainly, we’ll bring
acquired the refinery in 2019 as part of a $1bn on that refinery, it will be profitable.”
deal with Chevron and had recently completed a Nagle also suggested the refinery would even-
$400mn upgrade to the facility in order to allow tually be able to produce fuel in line with South
it to produce low-sulphur fuel. Astron spokes- Africa’s incoming clean fuel legislation, saying:
person Suzanne Pullinger said in 2022 that “the “We are bringing it back on and we believe there
refinery forms a significant part of the Astron is a commercial case to do that”.™

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