Cape Town - Cape Town's motorists are grappling with fuel shortages as several petrol stations ran dry due to an unplanned outage at the Astron refinery in Milnerton, prompting frustration and long travel times for refuelling.
Various fuel stations such as BP, Shell and Engen around Cape Town metro experience shortages of Unleaded Petrol 95 (ULP 95) due to an unplanned refinery outage.
In a matter that has been resolved in other areas, motorists were forced to travel long hours to fill up their vehicles with the higher octane petrol.
BP Southern Africa spokesperson, Hamlet Morule told the Cape Argus its service stations are among those that have been impacted by a shortage of ULP95 in Cape Town, due to an unplanned refinery outage.
“To mitigate the unforeseen challenge, BP SA diverted a Mogas import vessel which was destined for Durban to Cape Town, to ensure security of supply. Unfortunately, the vessel was also delayed by inclement weather conditions since 19 October,” Morule said.
BP SA said it closely monitoring the situation alongside the rest of the industry to ensure customers can once again access ULP95 fuel once the refinery comes back online or the weather subsides.
Engen spokesperson Gavin Smith said they are aware of reports regarding an industry-wide shortage of petroleum products in the Cape Town metropole, which was due to a supplier constraint in the area last week.
Smith said: “Engen is closely monitoring the situation. Customers are assured that contingency plans are in place to ensure a safe and secure supply of our core petroleum products to the market.”
Meanwhile, the Astron Energy spokesperson, Donna Fata, confirmed that due to operational upset, the supply of unleaded petrol and diesel products from their refinery in Cape Town has been impacted.
“We are pleased to confirm that the situation has been resolved and the refinery is fully operational, and we are able to meet demands going forward.
“We regret any inconvenience caused,” Fata said.
Responding to the crisis, Shell South Africa spokesperson Pam Ntaka said: “We are aware of the situation that was caused by our supplier not being able to transfer product to our terminal, resulting in a temporary interruption while alternate supply was sourced.
“We can confirm that supply was restored on Sunday and recovery is in progress.”
sibuliso.duba@inl.co.za