South Africa may be getting a modern oil refinery capable of producing the new generation fuels – but not in the Coega Industrial Development Zone, which has long been the site for a planned PetroSA Project Mthombo refinery.
The latest plans are for a 300 000 barrel per day refinery which is due to be built near Richard’s Bay at the cost of around R147 billion. It is scheduled to start commercial production in 2028.
The Central Energy Fund (CEF) and Saudi Arabian oil company Aramco have partnered up to develop what will be the largest oil refinery in the region.
“We are comfortable, we have a very solid business case to attract investment and funding from bankers,” said Kholly Zono, CEF acting group chief executive.
“This refinery will not only increase capacity for South Africa but also the region,” he said.
Aramco first announced plans for the refinery in January this year.
