Storage as Security: Rethinking South Africa’s Liquid Fuels Resilience

For decades, South Africa’s liquid fuels system was built around refining capacity. Crude oil was imported, processed domestically, and distributed inland. Refining acted as both production engine and buffer. It absorbed volatility in global crude markets and provided operational flexibility when shipping schedules shifted.

Effective national refining capacity has declined significantly from historic levels of roughly ~628,000 barrels per day as shown in Figure 1. Sapref remains offline. Enref has exited refining. PetroSA ceased operations due to feedstock constraints.