The UK oil and gas company Shell has announced that it will exit South Africa's downstream oil businesses and that it will divest its majority stake from its local South African downstream unit, Shell Downstream SA (SDSA), after a comprehensive review of its businesses.
SDSA was formed after Shell South Africa and South Africa’s Thebe Investment Corporation agreed to merge Shell South Africa Marketing and Shell South Refining businesses 10 years ago. Shell owned a 72% stake in SDSA, while Thebe owned the remaining 28%. One of SDSA's main assets is South Africa's largest refinery, the 180 kb/d Sapref refinery, located in Durban, which has not been operating since 2022. In addition, Shell will also divest its network of over 500 service stations it operates in the country. Despite exiting the downstream sector, Shell will maintain its presence in South Africa in the field of offshore exploration.
South Africa produced over 7 Mt of oil products in 2022. Oil products production dropped sharply since reaching a peak of over 20 Mt in 2016. Oil product imports nearly tripled from 7.3 Mt in 2016 to 20 Mt in 2022.