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Avgas shortage in the world now?

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Old 10th Apr 2006, 04:33
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Thumbs down Avgas shortage in the world now?

In the aviation world , there must be doom & gloom amongst all users of Avgas. Here follows a combination of snippets gleaned from several South African Press Releases -make of it what you will !
.
"The refinery is being modified to meet the new cleaner air legislation with work expected to be completed by next Thursday. "
"Shell spokesman Dennis Matsane said Shell was importing 2 000 tons of Avgas, which was expected to arrive on April 14, and a further 3 000 tons was expected on April 24."
"The problem started when Durban's South African Petroleum Refinery (Sapref), co-owned by BP and Shell, shut down production of Avgas at the beginning of the year when they had to make modifications in compliance of the new cleaner fuel legislation.
The refinery is being modified to meet the new cleaner air legislation with work expected to be completed by next Thursday."
"There are only four Avgas manufacturers worldwide and following the closure of the Durban refinery, two others shut down for maintenance, leaving only one responsible for the world's supply. At the same time two other Avgas refineries shut down for maintenance, leaving only the US refinery to meet global supply demands. "
"This put strain on the system and now there's a huge demand on the refinery in the US to make enough Avgas,"said Kader Jacobs, BP Aviation supply logistics manager. said.
Reports from all main SA centres indicate a serious rationing so as to keep essential emergency services operational. In the neighbouring countries around Southern Africa , the situation is even worse as they are totally dependant on receiving supplies from the South African refinery, or importers.
What's th news from the rest of the world ? Surely they too must be affected ? Let's hear from Ppruners !
So we can but wish everyone affected good luck that they survive this energy crunch.
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Old 10th Apr 2006, 04:38
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Out here in the intermountain western part of the USA, no shortage in sight, and prices have been moderating somewhat in the recent past.

Bought 200 gallons two days ago and the supplier has not heard about any possible shortages....yet.
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Old 10th Apr 2006, 06:03
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Originally Posted by flyboy2
"There are only four Avgas manufacturers worldwide and following the closure of the Durban refinery, two others shut down for maintenance, leaving only one responsible for the world's supply. At the same time two other Avgas refineries shut down for maintenance, leaving only the US refinery to meet global supply demands. "
Sounds like a big load of marketing bumpf to me.
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Old 10th Apr 2006, 07:22
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Have a look on the Africa site. We've had no fuel in Cape Town for a week and not expecting any 'till the end of the month
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Old 10th Apr 2006, 07:31
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No shortages anywhere else (in the civilised world). This is some sort of local drama or crisis. It happens in places that rely on limited production facilities- a strike, repairs or maintenance can make you think the world is running out. It's not. Just another African crisis!
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Old 10th Apr 2006, 11:57
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I heard several years ago that there were only three refineries in the world that turned out Avgas then, one in Europe (Rotterdam) and two in North America (one Curacao, the other I forget). If the authors of the time had forgotten about Durban that would seem to tie up. And we have got on fine in recent years.
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Old 15th Apr 2006, 17:58
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Thumbs down Avgas shortage continues worldwide

Guys wake up !
With only one of the 4 Refineries worldwide now producing Avgas,
how long do you expect it to take to restore full supplies ?
The problem is not just in one country.
Mechanical or production problems they are, but hardly Marketing bumpf-mr OzR

If you look around on various aviation web-sites , you will not find much remaining stock left over.

Hardly any media have reports of the Avgas problem !
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Old 16th Apr 2006, 03:13
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>>If you look around on various aviation web-sites , you will not find much remaining stock left over.<<

This is apparently not unusual.
Avgas is refined only once or twice per year in the USA, and when it's time to refine again, the stocks remaining sometimes get low(er).

Looks like an African thing...localized.
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Old 16th Apr 2006, 17:53
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Hey, just for fun, let's count the avgas refineries we know. There is a Neste refinery in Finland and Novoil in Russia (although Novoil really only makes 91/115 high-lead). Plus Durban that was mentioned above. That makes three. There's gotta be at least one by Shell and one by Total...
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Old 13th May 2006, 11:20
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AvGas Blues

another thing to consider is that AvGas (in the US and Canada anyway) is 'the biggest' loser an FBO can have on hand.. no one makes any money at it

a) margins are slim
b) consumption is low (not a G-IV pulling 1000's of gallons / liters)
c) being phased out by MFRS (new diesel stuff enroute)

while..the consumption / stock problems are localized the general symptoms that all of us will face in the coming years is that exploration is no longer bearing new production sites, yet consumption continues to grow (world wide)


bottom line for AvGas people?

a) our market is small
b) refiners are evaluating the hassle factor of placating us (ever wonder why they only refine 'once' per year in some cases?)
c) they are oil companies, not the Salvation Army - they don't really care about the price to the end user.. would hardly make a dent in their business if they pulled out of it altogether...but it would kill FBO's and small operators... fo sho


Adam Webster
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