CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – South African fuel storage firm Burgan Cape Terminals is set to lay a complaint against the local subsidiary of Chevron of trying to block competition by opposing plans to build a new terminal, a senior company official said on Tuesday.
Burgan rejected claims by Chevron that its 650 million rand ($59 million) terminal would lead to “rampant” fuel imports at the expense of local output, threatening Chevron’s 110,000 barrels-a-day refinery, chief executive Mzwandile Mseleku said.
“Chevron’s argument that the refinery will have to close is a red herring to hide its exclusionary conduct and block competition,” Mseleku said.
“Existing South African import regulations ensure local production is prioritised over imports, hence protecting the refinery,” he said, adding Burgan would lodge a formal complaint with the Competition Commission next week.
Officials from Chevron, which supplies more than 90 percent of fuel to the Western Cape region, were not immediately available for comment.
Burgan Cape Terminals is a partly black-owned company formed to plug a shortage of oil storage capacity in South Africa, and won a 20 year contract to develop a facility in Cape Town.
VTTI B.V, a 50/50 partnership between the world’s top oil trader Vitol and Malaysian shipping company MISC, owns 70 percent of Burgan.
