05 March 2005

Lord Oxburgh, non-executive chairman of The "Shell" International Transport &Trading Company, p.l.c., visited SAPREF from 4 to 5 March 2005 as part of a programme to gain wider knowledge of Shell activities around the world.

While in Durban he has toured SAPREF's facilities to learn about the refinery's operations and meet employees. His programme covered meeting a wide range of stakeholders from community, industry and government to gain understanding of the socio economic factors in this area and acquire a broad perspective of stakeholder views.

At a meeting on Saturday morning Lord Oxburgh met with community members from SAPREF's neighbourhood to hear their views and concerns.

"We are delighted to have had the opportunity of hosting him at SAPREF," said managing director, Wayne Pearce. "I have met him at other locations and am pleased to be able to show him SAPREF's continuous improvement strategy and informing him of our various projects to build capacity and engage with our neighbouring communities."

For further information contact :

Lora Rossler
SAPREF Sustainable Development Manager
031 480 1524 or 083 627 0292


Notes to editors :

. SAPREF is jointly (50/50) owned by Shell South African Energy and BP Southern Africa
. It is Southern Africa's largest crude oil refinery, with 35% of the country's refining capacity
. SAPREF's facilities comprise a single buoy mooring, a storage facility at Durban harbour, joint bunkering services and the refinery itself, which is located at Prospecton
. In recent years SAPREF has spent about R480 million on environmental improvements, including new plant to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions by 45%
. SAPREF is presently constructing a R700 million plant to produce cleaner fuels in line with government requirements for January 2006
. During 2005 SAPREF will commence upgrading its underground transfer pipelines including rewrapping all seven lines. This project will cost between R300 and R400 million.
. SAPREF's social investment initiatives are focussed on building capacity within communities bordering its facilities. Examples of this are a science laboratory for Lamontville schools, bursaries, food tunnel gardening in Umlazi, upgrading teaching skills for local educators, entrepreneurial skills development and personal development for adults and youth. Employment opportunities include in-service learners, vacation work, production and engineering learnerships and project work.