South Africa central bank flags $4.7B lower oil bill from closures
The South African Reserve Bank said the country’s oil import bill could have been $4.7 billion lower without closing refineries, citing halved refining capacity and rising reliance on imported refined fuel.
7 billion lower if the country had not shut a number of refineries, the South African Reserve Bank said. In a note published last week, the central bank said refining capacity in Africa’s largest economy has halved over the past decade, while imported refined fuel now meets more than half of domestic demand. South Africa has recently announced plans to at least triple its oil refining capacity as concern rises over its exposure to global price shocks. The Iran war has lifted oil prices and highlighted Africa’s dependence on energy imports, which account for around 70% of the continent’s refined fuel needs.
The conflict has led several countries to look at reassessing their energy sovereignty. Nigerian tycoon Aliko Dangote plans to build a refinery in Kenya based on his Lagos mega-refinery.