South Africa is planning its biggest buildup of strategic oil reserves since the apartheid era, in a bid to shield its economy from global energy shocks. Africa’s largest economy once refined its own fuel, but is now wholly dependent on imported petrol, diesel, and jet fuel, leaving it vulnerable to major disruptions.
Under new draft fuel security rules, the government would require the state and private fuel companies to stockpile a combined buffer of up to 81 days of national consumption, reviving a massive storage network that was built in the 1970s to protect against international sanctions.
The proposal, which is out for public comment before it becomes law, comes as the US war with Iran ramps up again, disrupting fuel shipments through the Strait of Hormuz that African countries, including South Africa, rely on for energy imports. “This vulnerability is compounded by the closure of domestic refineries,” the draft document reads. South Africa closed its two major refineries in 2022 after new fuel regulations undermined their commercial logic. The Middle East crisis has prompted renewed calls for African nations to increase energy autonomy, and Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote has announced plans to expand his refining business to East Africa.