THERE was no shareholder on earth willing to pump in billions of rand to upgrade ageing oil refineries in exchange for no return on investment, South African Petroleum Industry Association (Sapia) chairman Maurice Radebe has warned.Sapia members — including BP, Chevron, Engen, Total, Sasol and Shell — contribute 5% to GDP and employ nearly 9,000 people directly, with a further 70,000 in retail operations.SA has six refineries, the majority of which were built in the 1950s and face the prospect of paying billions for upgrades to meet the government’s proposed Cleaner Fuels II strategy.However, "there is no shareholder on the earth who will commit that money with no return", says Radebe. "We cannot do it without (government) support. If we do not support this industry, in five to 10 years’ time it will be wiped out."But Alan Gelder, global practice leader of UK-based Wood Mackenzie’s refining and marketing research team, said South African refineries could face closure as soon as 2020...
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