The 42,000 barrel-per-day Sonara refinery in Limbe declared a force majeure on Saturday after a tank exploded, causing a fire that halted output.

"Flames consumed four of the 13 production units, stopping all the Sonara refining process," Minister of Water Resources and Energy Gaston Eloundou Essomba said. "The market will remain supplied by imports."

Sonara, which is almost entirely state owned apart from a 4pc stake held by Total, has a capacity of 2.1 million tonnes of crude a year. It serves the whole country, so any delay in getting it back up and running has the potential to cause severe fuel shortages.?Reuters