Terminal operator sees Fujairah as 'oil hub'

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

29 Nov 2007

The Managing Director of the Vopak Horizon Fujairah (VHF) terminal has been giving more details about proposals to expand the storage facility. Walter Moone told Bunkerworld on Tuesday that the plans were still in their "study phase", but that they reflected a long-term confidence in Fujairah as a hub for oil products. Vopak Horizon Fujairah (VHF) announced at the weekend that preparatory work had begun on proposals to add 1.2 million cubic metres (m³) of storage space to the existing terminal. That would be in addition to an extra 380,000 m³ of storage capacity already under construction. If the expansion goes ahead, the terminal will have a total capacity of 2.7 million m³ and 10-12 berths for  vessels up to 175,000 deadweight tonnes (dwt). Moone said no decision had been taken as to how much of the the 1.2 million m³ of extra capacity would be set aside for fuel oil. He said the current configuration of the VHF terminal was "40% black products and 60% white" and that the new capacity might "mirror" that balance. Moone also said there was no timetable for when the expansion might be completed. The Fujairah bunker market is estimated to sell 12 million to 13 million metric tonnes of bunker fuel a year. Authorities in the United Arab Emiratres (UAE) have been putting pressure on the bunker market  to shift from floating storage to land-based tank farms. Gulf Petrol Supplies LLC and the bunker supplier Chemoil Energy have formed a joint venture to build and operate a 326,000 m³ storage terminal in Fujairah, with over two-thirds of the tank space set aside for bunkers. Sources say say floating storage is still in use in Fujairah with two VLCCs (very large crude carriers) currently being used to store fuel oil. VHF is a joint venture between the United Arab Emirates ENOC Group, Netherlands-based tank terminal operator Royal Vopak, the Government of Fujairah, Kuwait's Independent Petroleum Group and the Vitol Group.