Notifications provided by Masana Petroleum Solutions and Shell South Africa Marketing on 4th and 5th January explained that a leak was detected on the Single Buoy Mooring that receives most of the South Africa crude. The leak took several weeks to repair and prevented discharge of crude oil to replenish the refineries. SAPREF was forced to start a full shut-down on 3rd January and indicated that further repairs will result in an additional 10-15 day full refinery outage. The loss of this major source of supply, compounded by the low stocks at year end, have resulted in intermittent stock-outs across all regions.
For an update on Bitumen Supply Status as at 21 February 2012 provided by Much Asphalt, click here (PDF, 95Kb)
For article (8 February 2012) about bitumen exports continuing in spite of local shortages, click here (PDF, 17Kb)
For article (2 February 2012) on impact of bitumen shortages on road builders, click here (PDF, 200Kb)
For letter (31 January 2012) from Engen regarding their production, click here (PDF, 15Kb)
Magazine