Petroleum Africa
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Thursday, May 7, 2015
Chevron South Africa’s refining unit in the country, Caltex, saw the restart of production at its refinery in the Western Cape province after the facility underwent a major maintenance overhaul. The facility also underwent a safety inspection.
The investment alone was approximately R440-million and generated an additional 3 000 contractor jobs for the region.
“Planned refinery maintenance and safety inspections are practiced world-wide to allow for technology and operational upgrades, to uphold high levels of safety and to ensure a refinery is running optimally, resulting in fuel security. During maintenance periods supply constraints are carefully mitigated through the building up of strategic fuel supply in the time leading up to any planned maintenance and safety inspection,” says Doug Pottenger, General Manager at the refinery.
He adds; “We inject direct capital of more than R300-million into our refinery annually – in terms of general maintenance and operational developments, above the planned maintenance and safety inspection investment.”
A further R450-million invested in the construction of a multi-point ground flare and elevated flare, which will further reduce the refinery’s environmental impact. Construction of the world-class multi-point ground flare and a new 100 meter elevated flare, using advanced technology to replace the existing flare, started in November 2014 and is now complete and in operation at the refinery.
“Driving innovation at the refinery is a key priority for us,” says Pottenger. This investment alone resulted in employment for 500 local residents and will further improve the refinery’s operational efficiencies. The multi-point nature of the flare will mean that the gas will be combusted safely, quietly, and smoke-free.
The Chevron refinery sustains approximately 13 500 direct and indirect jobs in the Western Cape.
The refinery fuels 100% of the airplanes at the Cape Town International Airport, fuels 95% of the cars on the Western Cape roads, and produces 80% of the LPG in the Western Cape.
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