MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron Corp. is trying to block an increase in fuel imports to Cape Town, where the US oil company operates one of South Africa’s refineries, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.
The country of 53 million people doesn’t produce enough fuel to meet demand from motorists, forcing shipments from refineries elsewhere. Burgan Cape Terminals wants to build storage tank near Chevron’s plant to supply the nearby Western Cape province. Chevron says that will undermine the profitability of its 110,000-bpd plant, first commissioned in 1966.
The San Ramon, California-based oil company "does not oppose the construction of the fuel storage and distribution terminal to provide access to new entrants," it said in an e- mail. "We do oppose imports which could have a detrimental impact on national manufacturing capacity and capability."
Burgan is 70% owned by terminal operator VTTI B.V., a joint venture of energy trader Vitol and Malaysian shipping company MISC. It’s applied to National Energy Regulator of South Africa, or Nersa, to construct fuel storage and distribution facilities near Chevron’s refinery, which accounts for almost a quarter of South Africa’s crude oil refining capacity. The regulator will hold a hearing on the matter today.
While most people using the tanks would get fuel from the refinery, they would also have the option to ship products in from abroad, said Muziwandile Mseleku, CEO of Burgan Cape Terminals.
As MRC wrote before, a pump serving ethylene unit No. 22 at Chevron Phillips Chemical's Sweeny, Texas plant has shut unexpectedly, according to a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The ethylene unit has an production capacity of 300,000 m tpa. Chevron Phillips operates three steam crackers at the Sweeny site, with estimated ethylene production of 1.9 mln mtpa.
Chevron Phillips Chemica, headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas (north of Houston), US,l is one of the world’s top producers of olefins and polyolefins and a leading supplier of aromatics, alpha olefins, styrenics, specialty chemicals, piping, and proprietary plastics. Chevron and Phillips 66 each own 50% of Chevron Phillips Chemical.
MRC