Middle EastTankers

Concern over oil storage shortages

Dubai: Certain parts of the world are facing acute shortages in oil storage, notably China, a port executive from the Middle East has warned. Moreover, rfficient ship-shore-ship transportation is the key to easing stretched margins during the protracted period of oil price declines, Edwin Lammers, executive commercial manager at Oman’s Sohar Port and Freezone, said at a conference in Dubai.

“There are conflicting reports about whether there is a shortage of storage for oil. In the US, for example, total commercial stocks of crude oil are said to be close to 500m barrels, which is nearly 150m more than the average over the last 5 years. However, other analysts say storage facilities are sufficient,” Lammers said.

“In other regions, there may be genuine shortages, for example, in China. But whichever way you look at it at a certain point these huge volumes will need to be transported from storage facilities, and that is where having efficient operations and transportation comes into play in terms of turnaround times and costs,” he added.

The liquid bulk terminal at Sohar, Oiltanking Odfjell, now offers 1.3m cu m in storage for petroleum products, chemicals, and gases.

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