Sasol, Total indefinitely suspend operations at Natref refinery

Sasol Ltd. and partner Total SA have completed fully suspending operations until further notice at their jointly owned National Petroleum Refiners of South Africa (Pty) Ltd. (Natref) 108,000-b/d refinery in Sasolburg, South Africa, amid reduced regional demand resulting from measures aimed at reducing the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) (OGJ Online, Apr. 8, 2020).

As a result of an unprecedented decline in fuel demand following South Africa’s national COVID-19 lockdown that began on Mar. 27, Natref completed full decommissioning of the refinery on Apr. 20 in a manner to ensure units can start up safely and optimally when the time comes, Sasol said on Apr. 23.

With refinery operations now halted, Natref now intends to bring forward planned maintenance activities originally scheduled to start in May during the current downtime period under lockdown guidelines currently in place at the site, according to the operator.

Sasol said daily production rates to meet current market demand as a result of COVID-19 also remain reduced by about 25% at its Secunda Synfuels Operations (SSO), which is the world’s only commercial coal-based synthetic fuels manufacturing site to synthesis gas (syngas) through coal gasification and natural gas reforming.

While reduced demand has now also led to suspension of production at Sasol’s ammonia, nitric acid, and chlorvinyl plants in Sasolburg, the operator said SSO’s residual operating capacity—which will remain at 75%, or 7.3-7.4 million tonnes, for the rest of the financial year—will continue to prioritize chemicals production for supply to domestic and export markets.

Lake Charles Chemicals Project (LCCP)

Despite global impacts to business as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sasol said the disruption has not yet affected ongoing work at its LCCP integrated ethane cracker and downstream derivatives complex under progressive commissioning since 2019 in Westlake, La., near Lake Charles (OGJ Online, Dec. 17, 2019).

While mitigation plans are in place to minimize potential impacts at the site moving forward, Sasol confirmed it continues to focus on safely bringing remaining LCCP plants into beneficial operation (BO) following its achievement of 99% overall project completion as of end-March 2020 at a total capital expenditure to date of $12.6 billion.

Following startup of LCCP’s 100,000-tonnes/year ethoxylates (ETO) unit—which is equipped with a combination of technologies from Sasol and HH Technology Corp.— on Jan. 30, the Ziegler alcohols unit and Guerbet alcohols unit remain on schedule to reach BO in the fourth quarter of its 2020 financial year, which runs from April-June 2020 (OGJ Online, Jan. 30, 2020).

Rebuild of LCCP’s low-density polyethylene (LDPE) unit following a Jan. 13 explosion also is progressing according to plan, with the LDPE unit now scheduled to reach BO in the first quarter of Sasol’s 2021 fiscal year, which runs from July-September 2021, the operator said (OGJ Online, Jan. 14, 2020).

Sasol previously commissioned LCCP’s 1.5 million-tpy ethane cracker, linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) unit, and combined ethylene oxide-ethylene glycol unit in 2019 (OGJ Online, Aug. 30, 2019; June 3, 2019; Feb. 14, 2019).