The BP group’s history in South Africa reaches back to the early 1920s. Today BP Southern Africa (BPSA) has its head office in Cape Town and is the third largest of seven oil companies operating in South Africa. There are 553 BP branded service stations, 26 depots and other distribution sites, including three coastal installations.
The company processes its crude oil through, and has a 50% stake in the South Africa Petroleum Refineries (Sapref) at Reunion, 16 kilometres south of Durban on the East Coast of South Africa. It also has a 50% holding in the South African Lubricants Manufacturing Company (SAMCO), and a lubricating and oil blending plant at nearby Island View. BPSA employs some 1 300 people in South Africa, excluding those employed by Sapref, the refinery and the blending plant. Employees come from a wide variety of racial and cultural backgrounds incorporating over 10 distinct home languages.