South Africa will require more than $8 billion to revive two idle state-owned refineries as the government seeks to strengthen energy security and lower dependence on imported fuels. In 2024, the Central Energy Fund acquired the Sapref refinery from BP and Shell for a token $0.06. The facility, a 180,000-barrel-per-day refinery, was damaged by a flood in 2022. CEF plans to restart the plant’s liquefied petroleum gas business and lease storage tanks for early income. In the long term, CEF plans to expand capacity to as much as 650,000 barrels per day, a project that is estimated to cost around $7.15 billion. CEF is also considering a phased restart of the Mossel Bay gas-to-liquids refinery, idle since 2020 because of limited domestic gas feedstock. Its first phase targets 18,000 barrels per day, followed by a 46,000-barrel-per-day second phase.