Vivo Energy converting Durban refinery into fuel storage hub

Vitol Group’s Vivo Energy is building fuel tanks at a former Durban refinery site to become a leading South African storage hub, buffering the import-dependent nation from oil market shocks.

Construction of the $130-million project will result in 300 000 cubic meters of capacity and is set to be completed in the third quarter of 2027, according to George Roberts, an executive vice president at the firm. It will add to the 200 000 cubic meters of capacity being refurbished at the nearby Island View facility.

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About half of South Africa’s refining capacity has shut in recent years, including the 120 000 barrel-a-day Engen plant in Durban, which was converted into a terminal in 2021 after a prolonged period of losses and a fire. The supply cutoff caused by the Iran war has highlighted the country’s growing dependence on fuel imports.

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“Having infrastructure in the long term is what enables you to kind of be a lot more resilient to supply shocks or changes in market positions — we saw it with COVID, we saw it with the Russia-Ukraine war,” Roberts, who is also the chief executive officer of Vivo’s Engen retail business, said in an interview on the sidelines of a Cape Town conference.

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Vivo has made other investments to the Durban facility to improve the transfer of fuel and truck loading. It’s also in talks with the government about the possibility of building — with a consortium that includes Vitol, ACWA Power and VTTI — a 1.8-gigawatt gas-to-power plant at the site, though the location needs to be added to a state master plan, according to Roberts.

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