Jan. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s South African unit said its fuel supply has been constrained by an unscheduled shutdown of the Sapref refinery, the country’s largest, which Shell owns with BP Plc.

“Given this situation we continue to operate under a heavily rationed position for our customers across the country and our retail sites are at risk of intermittent stock-outs on certain fuel grades during this period,” Shell South Africa spokesman Elton Fortuin said in an e-mailed statement from Johannesburg.

The Sapref refinery, based in Durban, is expected to resume production from mid-February, he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jana Marais in Johannesburg at jmarais@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Ana Monteiro at amonteiro4@bloomberg.net