JOHANNESBURG, July 21 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's largest fuel producer Sasol on Thursday said a tanker carrying crude oil supply to the company has docked in the port of Durban, after the country's last operational oil refinery partly owned by the company was forced to shut down due to delays in crude delivery.
"Sasol had declared force majeure due to crude supply, but a tanker has docked in Durban and cargo dispatch processes are underway. We will provide an update in due course," Sasol's Senior Manager for Group External Communication Alex Anderson told Xinhua in a telephone interview.
He, however, declined to shed some light on the impact of the temporary closure of Natref refinery, which refined 10,8000 barrels of crude oil per day.
Several oil refineries in South Africa, known as Africa's most industrialized country, have stopped operation because of reasons including sale, conversion to a storage terminal, and explosion.
Sasol's Secunda fuel plant, the world's only commercial coal-based synthetic fuels manufacturing facility, remains operational. ■