Oil Tanks at Africa Hub Off Limits to Many as Market Floods
- Saldanha Bay’s 45 million-barrel capacity committed to traders
- South African facility has been vital hub in past oil slumps
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Oil tanks at one of the world’s largest storage hubs on Africa’s southern tip are filling up fast, said people familiar with the matter, depriving many traders of vital capacity just as the market is hit by a historic flood of crude.
The 45 million-barrel Saldanha Bay oil storage terminal, the largest in the southern hemisphere, has been a vital outlet for surplus crude in past slumps, such as the great recession of 2008 to 2009. This time around, as the combination of the coronavirus pandemic and Saudi Arabia’s price war with Russia creates a record-breaking oversupply, its role may be more limited.