EVADING RESPONSIBILITY
The sale of the South African Petroleum Refinery (Sapref), jointly owned by multinational energy companies BP and Shell, to the state-owned Central Energy Fund for R1 (five US cents) raises questions about whether the company is evading its social and environmental liabilities.
The Sapref refinery in South Durban was commissioned (began operating) in 1964. It contributed 35% of South Africa’s refinery capacity and refined 180 000 barrels of imported crude oil a day. It was South Africa’s biggest refinery, until it was temporarily closed in 2022 after floods damaged the plant. It never reopened.
