Energy

Billionaire-backed facility in a Cape Town suburb producing 100,000 barrels of refined petroleum a day

Shaun Jacobs • 28 May 2026

Astron Energy’s Milnerton refinery in Cape Town is one of the few examples of energy infrastructure that has not closed down in South Africa over the past decade.

While South Africa’s overall refining capacity has halved since 2020, Astron Energy’s refinery is currently undergoing a R6 billion upgrade.

This will ensure it acts as a bulwark against South Africa’s increased reliance on refined petroleum imports and is a key part of any ambition to make the country more resilient.

Local refinery capacity has become increasingly important in recent years, following several shocks to global oil supply, first from Russia in 2022 and now from the Middle East.

Refinery capacity enables South Africa to shift suppliers from refined products from the Middle East and Asia to crude oil from Brazil, Angola, and Nigeria.

However, this ability has been significantly constrained by the country’s stagnant economy and difficult operating environment, which has made refining margins extremely thin.

This has resulted in minimal investment in maintaining or upgrading local refineries, leaving them to be mothballed after relatively minor incidents.

For example, the Engen refinery in Durban has been permanently shut down since a 2020 fire, taking 135,000 barrels of capacity offline. It has since been made into a storage and import terminal.

This was coupled with the shutdown of Sapref in 2022, which was South Africa’s largest refinery with a capacity of 180,000 barrels. It has been bought by the Central Energy Fund, which plans to restart it.

Astron Energy’s Milnerton refinery stands in stark contrast to the shutdown of its peers, with its owner, Glencore, pumping R6 billion into upgrading the facility.

Glencore has been clear in recent years that the refinery is cash-flow positive for the commodities trader, which is run by South African Gary Nagle.

Nagle was preceded by South African-born billionaire Ivan Glassenberg, who remains Glencore’s largest shareholder.

The upgrading of Astron Energy’s refinery is one of the largest private investments in South Africa in recent years.

Refining in Milnerton

Oil refining in Milnerton did not begin with Astron Energy, with the first refinery being built under the Caltex brand in 1966.

Caltex by then had been operating in South Africa for over 50 years under various guises to import fuel, lubricants, and chemicals.

Formed as a joint venture in Africa between Texaco and Standard Oil of California, Caltex was immensely successful along with other petroleum giants.

South Africa’s growing economy, which had become highly industrialised, was hungry for fuel, chemicals, and lubricants, leading to a bonanza for the companies that could supply them.

One problem area remained in this equation – Cape Town. The city’s isolated nature made it difficult to supply from imports and refineries through Durban.

Located close to the industrial heartland of Gauteng, Durban has always been the site for most of South Africa’s fuel imports.

However, as the Western Cape economy grew, and it became possible to import crude oil from Nigeria, the United States, and South America, Cape Town became a logical choice for expansion.

This led Caltex to construct a refinery in Milnerton in 1966, which soon became the lifeblood of fuel supply for the coastal region.

The facility can import crude oil and convert it into final products, including petrol, jet fuel, diesel, fuel oil, and liquefied petroleum gas.

After operating under the Caltex brand for 50 years, the facility was rebranded under Astron Energy following Glencore’s $1 billion acquisition of Chevron South Africa.

To unify its brands across Africa, Glencore began rebranding Caltex forecourts and facilities as Astron Energy. This process is still ongoing, with over 600 petrol stations being rebranded so far.

The refinery is coupled with Astron’s lubricants manufacturing plant in Durban, which it has invested heavily in to turn into a world-class facility that can produce 60 million litres of lubricants a year.

Astron’s refinery, apart from being a key national asset, is estimated to generate R95 billion in revenue for the local economy and supports over 50,000 direct and indirect jobs.