Rotterdam: The frosty, sanction-laden relationship between the EU and Russia has seen another big oil project canned.
Shtandart TT, a 100% subsidiary of Russia’s Summa Group, and the Port of Rotterdam Authority have terminated their contract for the construction of the EUR1bn Tank Terminal Europoort West.
The terminal, which ultimately would have had a capacity of over 3m cu m of storage space, was intended for transit of Urals crude oil and oil products.
At the end of 2010, the port authority launched an open assessment procedure, which led to a contract with Shtandart TT. At the beginning of 2013, the port authority handed over the site to Shtandart, ready for construction. By early 2015 all of the building and environmental permits necessary for construction and operation of the terminal were in place.
The contract between the port authority and Shtandart TT, which was concluded four years ago, includes agreements on the schedule and the quantities of crude oil and oil products that would be handled at the terminal. Shtandart TT has recently initiated discussions on the feasibility of the project, which have led to the decision to terminate the joint project. It had already slipped behind schedule by the time it was cancelled.
The port authority said in a release it was hopeful another party might come in to help develop the site.
