Oman’s Sohar Port has signed a $600m contract with Singapore-based oil trader Trescorp to develop a new oil terminal with operations targeted to commence by 2020.
According to Sohar Port, the new facility will feature six deep-water berths with one of them capable of receiving VLCCs of up to 320,000 dwt.
In phase one, the terminal will be equipped to receive, store and blend crude oil, fuel oil and diesel. Construction of the project will commence in 2018, with an initial storage capacity of 600,000 cu m, which could be further expanded to 1.8 million cu m in the future. Phase two expansion plan will include gasoline blending, jet fuel, asphalt and a lube oil blending plant. The project are set to commence operations by 2020.
“The availability of new land in the port thanks to our reclamation works make the crude and fuel terminal technically feasible. The commercial viability is to leverage existing petroleum trading infrastructures in Dubai, potentially adding offshore floating storage facilities in our new anchorage area,” said Mark Geilenkirchen, CEO of Sohar Port.
“The forecasts for the growth of petroleum trading in the Gulf area are far greater than the available storage capacity, which is still relatively small compared to combined storage at Port of Singapore and Johor Port that totals around 20 million cubic metres. Our world-class, dedicated marine facilities at the new terminal will ensure shorter turnaround times for vessels and faster re-exports, greatly benefitting our trading partners,” added Hamood Al Hashmi, chairman of Trescorp.
