A mechanical fault at Chevron's 110,000 barrel a day South African refinery has forced a reduction in output by almost a third, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday, but expects to resume full output by end-August.

The disruption could lead to supply disruptions for petrol, diesel and liquified petroleum gas, Suzanne Pullinger, spokeswoman for Chevron South Africa said in a statement.

"We are therefore implementing all the necessary measures, including securing contingency product supplies of petrol and diesel to address potential shortfalls," she said.

In a letter from Chevron to South Africa's Department of Energy earlier this month, the U.S. oil major said one of the refinery's processing units, the "FCCU", shut down unexpectedly due to a mechanical fault.

It did not specify the exact fault at the third-largest crude refinery in Africa's most developed economy but said engineers and maintenance crews were working around the clock to fix the fault at the refinery in Cape Town.

"Due to this incident, the refinery throughput has had to be reduced by approximately 30 percent with a resultant reduction in the manufacture of key products," said the letter, dated 14 August and seen by Reuters.

Chevron said a vessel carrying oil was expected in September as part of contingency plans to mitigate any supply shortfalls.

Source: www.reuters.com

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