South Africa

South Africa’s biggest airport in trouble

OR Tambo International, South Africa’s biggest and busiest airport, is increasingly at risk of running out of jet fuel. Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) estimates it has around eight days of supply left. 

Issues with the fuel supply to the airport were first noticed in December 2024 when OR Tambo’s main fuel valve failed. This resulted in flights being delayed and cancelled as jets could not refuel. 

This failure followed warnings from The Fuels Industry Association of South Africa, which raised the alarm in early 2024 about potential jet fuel shortages at key airports. 

Group Executive for Operations at ACSA, Terence Delamoney, explained that the repeated fuel shortages OR Tambo has faced result from a wider issue in South Africa. 

“Over the past few years, the issue of fuel security and supply in South Africa has become a key issue that needs to be addressed,” Delamoney told the SABC

The supply of jet fuel has come under particular pressure as several key refineries have shut down in recent years in South Africa. 

Delamoney said that while the country’s airports used to be able to call on supply from five refineries just a few years ago, this has dropped to only two – Natref and the Astron refinery in Cape Town. 

This has made the supply of jet fuel in South Africa extremely vulnerable to external shocks, and the country’s airports are increasingly reliant on imports. 

To mitigate against this, ACSA has tried to increase the operational buffer stock at South Africa’s airports from around three to four days to a week or more of fuel. 

However, Delamoney explained that the only long-term solution is to increase refining capacity in South Africa and diversify supply among multiple facilities or to create a strategic petroleum reserve. 

A strategic reserve would provide a significant buffer against external shocks and provide security to the country’s international airports. 

Such an external shock appears to have occurred with a fire at Natref taking out one of the two refineries capable of producing jet fuel in South Africa. 

Natref supplies around 72% of OR Tambo’s jet fuel, with the fire effectively taking this offline overnight. 

The 108,000-barrel-a-day refinery represents 30% of South Africa’s normally operating refining capacity, comprises three plants and excludes another three facilities that have been shut in recent years.

With Natref offline, OR Tambo has effectively lost three-quarters of its jet fuel supply, with varying estimates for when the refining capacity will be back online. 

Sasol, which owns just over 62% of Natref, has not confirmed a date for a restart of the plant as assessments are underway. 

ACSA expects the repairs at the refinery to be back online by 21 February and regular supply to resume on 27 February. 

“The airport has not run out of fuel stock yet. There is fuel available at the airport for airlines to use,” Delamoney said. 

OR Tambo, as of 21 January, has around 28 million litres of jet fuel in storage and with an average daily usage of 3.6 million litres, this is expected to last until the end of the month. 

Measures to prevent the airport running out of fuel are in place, with ACSA in talks with the South African Petroleum Association to secure additional supply. 

The eight days the current buffer provides should be enough to secure additional stock, but the airport may introduce new measures to reduce the usage of fuel at OR Tambo. 

Airlines have been informed and encouraged to either travel with additional fuel from their point of origin or to refuel at other airports. 

They retain the discretion to take proactive measures, including adjusting their operations to mitigate the impact of the shortage.

Delamoney said this may include airlines going directly to companies to source their own supply of jet fuel. 

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