(Ecofin Agency) - As part of the mandate to ensure the safety of the supply of liquid fuels, the Strategic Fuel Fund (SFF) has offered to purchase Chevron's 75% interest in South Africa’s oil refinery.

The state-owned company intends to buy interests in both the refinery and other downstream assets in Cape Town as well as those in neighboring countries.

“SFF has forwarded a commercial offer to Chevron and its financial advisers, in relation to the purchase of the 75 percent interest on offer,” the company said.According to the company, 75% of the refinery which processes 110,000 bopd and assets such as retail stations and depots will be acquired for an undisclosed amount.

Chevron had announced in January that it would sell its business in South Africa after it sold its assets in Nigeria, due to the declining oil prices in the global market.The U.S. oil major has been in South Africa, for more than a century. Aside the Cape Town refinery, Chevron also has interests in a lubricants plant in Durban on the east coast, Reuters reports.

Anita Fatunji