Sasol’s Natref Refinery Advances Clean Fuels Compliance with Low Carbon Boiler Installation
South Africa’s petrochemical giant Sasol reports significant progress at its Natref refinery toward achieving compliance with Clean Fuels 2 regulation through the installation of its first low carbon boiler. The company expects to commission its second low carbon boiler by the end of September 2025.
South Africa’s Clean Fuels 2 regulation represents a national fuel specification overhaul aimed at dramatically lowering sulfur content in both gasoline and diesel to 10 parts per million, a substantial reduction from current limits of 50 ppm and 500 ppm. The new standards also limit benzene to 1% and cap aromatics at 35%.
Sasol’s progress signals how far South Africa’s refining sector has evolved to accept the inevitability of Clean Fuels compliance. In March 2025, Astron Energy, a unit of global commodity trader Glencore, announced plans to invest up to $328 million in new equipment to become compliant with Clean Fuels 2 regulation ahead of the 2027 deadline at its 100,000 barrels per day crude oil refinery in Cape Town.
The development is particularly significant given the industry’s initial resistance to the regulations announced in 2012. Companies originally sought government incentives to compensate for upgrade investments in a regulated fuel price environment. When the government refused, the best incentive companies secured was a postponement of implementation from 2017 to 2027.
During the 13-year period between regulation announcement and current compliance efforts, major international players including Shell, Engen, and British Petroleum shut their refinery operations, while Chevron sold its entire Southern African midstream and downstream petroleum assets to Glencore.
Africa’s most advanced economy now imports around 75% of its liquid fuel needs, estimated at just over 19 billion liters in 2023. The country currently holds less than 21 days of petroleum fuels reserve and operates with domestic refining capacity of around 358,000 barrels per day, half of what it was five years ago.
Source: africaoilgasreport.com
