Sasol is pushing for higher jet-fuel stock buffers in South Africa after an outage at the Natref refinery disrupted inland supply and raised pressure on OR Tambo International Airport, the country’s busiest jet-fuel market. The risk of shortages at the Johannesburg hub remains low if current mitigation measures hold, while repair work is set to affect jet-fuel production over the coming weeks.
The disruption began after an unplanned shutdown at a downstream Natref unit following a steam-boiler failure that damaged key refinery equipment. OR Tambo normally draws about 70% to 80% of its jet-fuel demand from Natref, making the airport especially sensitive to any loss of inland refinery output. Sasol chief executive Simon Baloyi has argued that suppliers should carry larger inventories to absorb outages of this kind.
Airports Company South Africa had already indicated on 28 August that OR Tambo held roughly five to six days of jet-fuel cover and that major airports remained stable despite the refinery problem. Cape Town and other airports rely on different buffer arrangements and imports, reducing their exposure. Repair and recommissioning work is expected to weigh on jet-fuel production from about 6 September to 4 October, keeping the issue firmly on the operational agenda for airlines, fuel suppliers and airport operators.