THE Engine Refinery shut-down period came to a successful end on Tuesday, 25 August, with zero safety concerns and an extra 2,472 contractor jobs provided.
The fuels section of the 120,000 barrels-per-day Engen Refinery completed the annual 30-day maintenance programme at a cost of over R150-million.
During the programme, an extra 2,472 contractor jobs were created with 70% of contracted personnel employed from the South Durban Basin, mostly from Wentworth.
“Engen is proud to give back to the communities where we do business, most notably the Durban South community where we are located,” said Engen Refinery general manager, Jehan Zaib.
“The refinery’s zero tolerance on overdue statutory equipment and unplanned shut-downs has seen a steady increase in reliability over the past four years. This is necessary to ensure continuous supply of adequate volumes of fuel for the country,” he added.
Maintenance manager, John Naidoo said the refinery is currently running at 99.8% and that the outage ended with excellent health, safety and environment metrics, meaning there were no fires, health issues, falling object incidents or flogging injuries and a leak-free start-up.
“All safeguarding and protection equipment and systems were tested to ensure they function on demand. We also took the opportunity to address routine maintenance or services as recommended by the original equipment manufacturer, for critical equipment,” said Naidoo.
Zaib added that: “Outside of the maintenance outage, Engen remains firmly committed to maintaining a refinery that operates safely, at optimal efficiency and with the lowest possible environmental impact. This enables us to continue with our anchoring job of ensuring a secure supply of fuel products for the country, thereby supporting economic activity.”
