Oil major Chevron on Monday said it would not appeal the Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning’s (DEA&DP’s) decision to approve the construction of a new independent liquid fuel storage and distribution facility in Cape Town.

The company, which had opposed the multimillion-rand Port of Cape Town project from the start, would now approach government to find a solution to ensure the viability of the local refining industry.

Earlier this month, Burgan Cape Terminals secured one of the final regulatory hurdles – the environmental green light – paving the way for the imminent construction of the fuel storage terminal.

At the time, Chevron told Engineering News Online that it would consider all its options within the regulatory process framework, which included the potential for an appeal, a decision that was now off the table in favour of discussions with government.

“In taking this decision, we recognise that it is not DEA&DP’s primary function to provide protection against the importation of clean fuels, which has always been at the centre of our objection,” Chevron South Africa spokesperson Delight Ngcamu-Aitken said, adding that an appeal would only result in further delays, which was never Chevron’s intention.

Ngcamu-Aitken was optimistic of finding a solution benefiting all stakeholders to mitigate the potential importation of unrestricted quantities of low-sulphur fuels at the expense of the domestic refining industry.

Burgan, which was formed to develop and manage the fuel storage and distribution facilities at the Eastern Mole, in the Port of Cape Town, for Transnet National Ports Authority for the next 20 years, was currently finalising the required final permits and licences to start breaking soil on the project that would see a R650-million investment in the first two years of development.