TotalEnergies to grow fuel trade with SA as shut refineries create 'massive' shortage

French oil major TotalEnergies plans to expand fuel trade with South Africa after a wave of refinery shutdowns sent imports soaring.

Africa’s most industrialised nation has long relied on fuel from abroad, but demand has grown in recent years as a string of refineries suspended output. Total is well-placed to boost its presence in the country, where it has storage depots and plans a tie-up with local firm Zambo Energy to supply products.

The shortage “has become massive,” Thomas Waymel, the company’s senior vice president of trading and shipping, said in Cape Town on Tuesday. South Africa now meets 80% of its fuel requirements with imports, he said.