In the document titled "declaration of force majeure", the SONARA chief executive said the indefinite shutdown comes after fire razed down portions of the refinery.

"We inform you of the occurrence of an explosion followed by a serious fire in our production units on May 31, 2019 around 9:30pm, causing damage and a production shutdown of all our units for a period to be determined," Simo Njonou said in a statement.

As a result of the unfortunate incident, the company declares a case of force majeure and a provisional suspension of all contractual engagements pending an evaluation of the situation.

The General Manager of SONARA says information on the end of the force majeure will be made available at the appropriate time.

"We are at your disposal for any further information and we assure you of all our efforts to resume our activities as soon as possible," he writes.

Force majeure is a legal term that refers to an unforeseeable circumstances that prevent someone from fulfilling a contract.

Pictures show the extent of the damage with speculations that the company may take some time to recover.

Created in 1973 and inaugurated in 1981, SONARA is a topping reforming refinery. SONARA places at the disposal of the market the following petroleum products: butane, gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, fuel oil, distillate, fuel oil.

The Limbe refinery has a theoretical capacity of 2,100,000 tons/year. It was conceived at first to treat light crude (Arabian light).

However Cameroon currently produces heavy crudes and one notes an inadequacy between the existing tools in the refinery and the crudes available.