ENGEN Petroleum has partially shut its 125000-barrels-per-day refinery in South Africa as maintenance reduces crude oil supplies, a company spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

The Durban single-buoy mooring, which brings crude oil into the refinery, will be out of commission for part of May, Tania Landsberg said.

As a result, Engen will shut some unspecified units at its refinery between May 5 and 24 for maintenance, she added.

The refinery will continue to operate at a reduced run rate, Ms Landsberg said, without providing further details.

The refinery was last shut in mid-October after a fire damaged its crude unit.

Engen is majority owned by Petronas, Malaysia's state oil company, while the single-buoy mooring is managed by Sapref, which is jointly owned by BP and Royal Dutch Shell.

Engen, which used to be the biggest South African buyer of Iranian crude, said in April it has halted all imports from that country due to western sanctions.

Since then, it has turned to top oil exporter Saudi Aramco for additional crude. Any disruption in crude imports could affect fuel supplies in South Africa that have already been volatile because of strikes and refinery problems.

REUTERS