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South African refiner and bunker supplier Engen Petroleum Ltd. has said that its bunker producing refinery in Durban is expected to resume production by mid-January after a fire broke out earlier this month.

"Engen now believes the refinery could be re-started in about six weeks' time," the company said in a statement.

The fire had broken out on November 13th in the refinery's crude unit, which feeds crude oil into the refinery's processing units. The incident caused damage worth about 50 million rand ($4.8 billion), Engen said.

On the day of the fire, Engen said that it would implement contingency plans to import refined fuel in order to avoid any shortages.

Malaysia's state-owned oil company, Petroliam Nasional Bhd. (Petronas) has an 80 percent stake in the Durban refinery, which is one of the principal supply sources for the South African bunker market.

The port of Durban is the country's largest in terms of cargo volume and marine fuel sold. It accounts for approximately 70 percent of total bunker demand in South Africa, which is estimated to be approximately 3.3 million metric tonnes per year. Annual volumes at the port are around 2.3 million tonnes.

Investigations are still ongoing to determine the cause of the mechanical failure behind the fire.