By Marelise van der Merwe.
Sasol has declared a force majeure on the supply of petroleum products after key refinery Natref was forced to shut down on Friday due to delays in the arrival of crude oil shipments.
Sasol said shipments were expected to start arriving on Saturday 16 July, which would see crude oil feed beginning to be restored to Natref.
The aim is to see Natref running at full capacity by month end.
Force majeure is a mechanism that frees parties from contractual obligations in the case of an extraordinary event that prevents them from performing as usual.
“Sasol Oil has declared a Force Majeure on petroleum products as a result of delays in the arrival of crude oil shipments which are beyond Sasol Oil’s control. These delays have impacted availability of crude oil feedstock for processing at Natref, which necessitates the shutdown of its Natref refinery,” a Sasol spokesperson said on Saturday.
“In the circumstances, Sasol Oil will not be in a position to fully meet its commitments on the supply of all petroleum products from July 2022.”
The situation would hopefully be resolved soon, the spokesperson added.
“Sasol Oil is engaging industry role players as well as affected customers regarding the product shortfalls and will communicate on an ongoing basis on measures taken to stabilise supply from Natref refinery.”
The Natref refinery – which was commissioned in 1971 – has undergone a number of upgrades during its lifespan, including an expansion project to increase its capacity by around 25% to some 108 000 barrels per day. It is a joint venture between Sasol mining and TotalEnergies.
Natref’s shutdown on Friday follows hot on the heels of several refineries in SA that have had to suspend operations either temporarily, indefinitely, or permanently.
In February, BP and Shell announced they would be halting operations indefinitely at Sapref – Southern Africa’s biggest crude oil refinery, which can process some 180 000 barrels a day and accounts for 35% of SA’s refining capacity. By March, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe confirmed that government, through the Central Energy Fund, was considering acquiring Sapref in a bid to save it.