Page 4 - AfrOil Week 28 2020

AfrOil COMMENTARY AfrOil
Knock-on effects
Problems in South Africa’s refining sector have led to fuel shortages in neighbouring Botswana
Customers queue up for fuel in Botswana (Photo: BlackVoiceNews)
WHAT:
Gaborone is rationing fuel in an attempt to balance supply and demand.
WHY:
Fuel shipments have slowed since a truck drivers’ strike began in South Africa on July 7.
WHAT NEXT:
The country is not
likely to find quick relief, owing to extra transport expenses and problems replenishing fuel stocks.
PROBLEMS in South Africa’s re ning sector are disrupting fuel supplies in neighbouring Botswana.
e latter country began experiencing short- ages last month, a er the South African com- panies that have traditionally been the main suppliers of petroleum products to state-owned Botswana Oil Ltd (BOL) slowed the pace of deliveries.
Botswana does not currently produce or refine crude oil, so it depends entirely on imported fuels.
e slowdown in South African shipments was the result of several factors. One of these was an overall slowdown in South Africa’s re ning sector. All four of the country’s oil-processing plants were partially or completely idle during the spring.
Engen’s refinery in Durban opted to halt
operations on March 27, citing expectations of a decline in fuel demand because of the corona- virus (COVID-19) pandemic, and did not come back online until mid-May. e country’s largest re nery – Sapref, owned by BP (UK) and Royal Dutch Shell (UK/Netherlands) – followed a sim- ilar course. Sasol’s Natref went dark in April and then started the process of coming back online in June.
Finally, the Caltex plant in Cape Town is due to resume operations in July. is facility had shut down in February for a scheduled turna- round but was not able to restart in late April as planned, owing to the lockdown.
Slowing down
Under these circumstances, South African re n- ers could not even produce enough fuel to meet local demand.
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 28 15•July•2020