Gauteng suffers fuel shortages

CEO Reggie Sibiya says there are still shortages, and BP service stations were the worst affected.

"Products affected are Unleaded Petrol 93, Unleaded Petrol 95 and Diesel 50. Both the Alrode Depot and Langlaagte Depot have, on more than one occasion, run out of these products.

"Over 100 service stations also reported running dry of one or more of these products over the past two days," he said.

He says the shortage is exclusive to Gauteng.

"We are told that over and above the planned shutdown at the Engen Refinery [Enref] in Durban, disruptions occurred on production at SAPREF, leading to product shortages via pipeline from the coast to inland," he said.

The South African Petroleum Refineries [SAPREF], a joint venture between Shell Refining SA and BP Southern Africa, are located in Durban and on the east coast of the country.

Sibiya says the association is concerned because little has been done to "buffer stock and storage capacity to mitigate things like planned maintenance shutdowns, especially in critical areas like Gauteng.

"It is always the small sites that become marginalised and have to incur expenses like wages and electricity when there are no products to sell. Some sites have been running dry since Friday," he said.

He says while the situation seems to be improving, he is not sure when it will be resolved.

"We hope it will be over in the next couple of days," he continued.

Meanwhile, the South African Petroleum Industry Association in KwaZulu-Natal says it is not affected.

"Our refinery is fully online and producing petroleum products," said Cindy Govender, the association's sustainable development manager.

We have contacted various service stations in KwaZulu-Natal, including the Shell garage in Overport, Shell on the corner of Innes Road and Lillian Ngoyi Road and the BP garage on Che Guevara Road. None were affected by the fuel shortage.

(File photo)