The South African Central Energy Fund (CEF) has announced plans to rehabilitate and expand the capacity of the Sapref refinery located in Durban, in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. CEF plans to expand the capacity of the refinery to 600 kb/d, from its original capacity of 180 kb/d.
Commissioned in 1963, Sapref is the largest crude oil refinery in South Africa, and accounted for about 35% of the country’s refining capacity before its closure in 2022 due to competitiveness issues. It was then sold by its owners BP and Shell to the South African Government in May 2024 and restarted after a 2-year shutdown. Shell and BP agreed to pay around US$15m to CEF for the rehabilitation of the Sapref refinery.
There are three other refineries in the country: Engen (120 kb/d), Caltex Oil (110 kb/d), and Natref (105 kb/d).