South African refiners struggle to compete
Most of the country’s ageing refinery capacity remains offline.
Seven months after a fire at South African fuel company Engen’s Durban refinery, much of the country’s 700,000bl/d nameplate refining capacity remains offline as a handful of ageing facilities await repairs, maintenance or investment reviews by operators. Many of these are foreign oil companies that have weathered stormy market conditions overseas in the past year and now face intense pressure from environmental lobbyists. Engen, a subsidiary of Malaysian NOC Petronas, announced in April that it had decided not to revive the 120,000bl/d plant and would instead convert it into a storage facility. The potential costs of upgrading the 67-year-old refinery to meet government demands for cleaner
Also in this section
2 December 2024
Crucial role of gas means country is laying the foundations to control physical and trading supply chains
30 November 2024
Decades of turmoil have left Iraq’s vast energy potential underutilised, but renewed investment and strategic reforms are transforming it into a key player in the region
29 November 2024
Although Iraq remains a major crude exporter, it is still some way from becoming a regional energy supply hub. Ambitious new cross-border schemes aim to rectify that situation
29 November 2024
There are opportunities for attractive returns and greater project success amid a real push by the Iraqi government for reform, as long as there is a shared understanding between the needs of investors and the host government