Natref Sasolburg Refinery — South Africa

Natref Sasolburg Refinery is a refinery in South Africa. Its listed capacity is 108,500 BBL per day. Refineries heat, fractionate and chemically transform crude oil into fuels and petrochemical feedstocks through energy-intensive distillation and cracking — extremely demanding on steam generation and heat recovery. It is operated by Sasol. By capacity it ranks #2 among 2 oil refineries in South Africa. It emits about 771,500 t CO₂e a year from Climate TRACE. That is 4.2% of the CO₂e from the 24 facilities in South Africa that have an emissions figure in IndustryAtlas. Its CO₂ per unit of capacity is 17% below the national median for this sector.

Facility data: Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0), id ct-1753782.

In context: how this facility compares

At 108,500 BBL per day, Natref Sasolburg Refinery is below the median refinery in South Africa (180,000 BBL per day). Subsector: oil-and-gas-refining. As refinery, it requires high process heat (typically 200–600°C) for its core industrial operations, supplied by boilers, furnaces or direct combustion. Refineries heat, fractionate and chemically transform crude oil into fuels and petrochemical feedstocks through energy-intensive distillation and cracking — extremely demanding on steam generation and heat recovery.

Capacity & CO₂-intensity comparison computed from Climate TRACE industrial facilities data; sector role based on engineering reference.

What 771,500 t CO₂e a year looks like

This facility's estimated annual CO₂e (Climate TRACE, modelled) in everyday equivalents from the US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies calculator:

Equivalencies: US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies. Emissions: Climate TRACE.

Capacity vs largest oil refineries in South Africa

Listed capacity (BBL per day), Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0).

Operator

Operated by Sasol. All facilities by this operator →

Local climate

Natref Sasolburg Refinery sits in a humid subtropical (dry winter) climate zone (Köppen Cwa), at 26.8°S in the southern hemisphere.

Köppen zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).

Site climate & environmental severity

This site sits in a mild atmospheric environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C2 — Low), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.

In this site’s local climate, a bare 150 °C surface sheds about 1338 W/m² to ambient — roughly 1.03× the loss at a 20 °C reference. Reference-surface calculation at a 150 °C surface from WorldClim climate normals (ASTM C680 / ISO 12241) — an indicative per-climate comparison, not a measurement of this site’s specific equipment. Open method dataset: DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20787408 (CC BY 4.0).

Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.

How it compares & nearby sites

The #2 largest of 2 oil refineries in South Africa by listed capacity (Climate TRACE).

Nearby industrial sites

• Sasol Polymers Sasolburg, Sasolburg · Petrochemical · 197,367 t CO₂
• ArcelorMittal Vanderbijlpark Steel Works · Steel Plant · 4,161,451 t CO₂
• ZAF-Fezile Dabi_methanol · Chemical Plant · 52,157 t CO₂
• Scaw Metals Group Germiston plant · Steel Plant · 493,095 t CO₂
• Pretoria Cement Plant · Cement Plant · 239,414 t CO₂
• Sasol Polymers Secunda, Secunda · Petrochemical · 1,151,305 t CO₂

Location

Coordinates -26.80628, 27.85592. View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions