Vital Oil Export Hub In Middle East To Expand Storage Capacity

The Port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), one of the main oil storage and export hubs in the Middle East, is set to see its storage capacity rise after an oil storage and service provider said it would complete its storage expansion by the end of the year.

Brooge Energy Limited, which operates storage tanks outside the Strait of Hormuz, at the Port of Fujairah in the UAE, expects its Phase II construction expansion – which began in 2018 – to be completed by the fourth quarter 2020 and be at 100 percent utilization of capacity by the end of this year, the company said in its 2019 earnings release this week. The expanded storage capacity will consist of eight oil storage tanks with a total capacity of 3.8 million barrels of oil.

The company also plans a Phase III expansion at the Port of Fujairah, which is expected to provide capacity for an additional 22 million barrels of oil and to come online at the end of 2022.

“Our impressive 23% revenue growth for 2019 was driven by our multi-year agreement with an offtake customer for our Phase I terminals, which operated at full capacity throughout the whole year,” Nicolaas L. Paardenkooper, Chief Executive Officer of Brooge Energy, said in a statement.

“Furthermore, we have secured a multi-year contract for 100% of our Phase II storage facility with the same customer. Phase II is expected to be operational and in a position to start generating significant revenues starting in the second half of 2020. The launch of our Phase II operations will also expand our storage capabilities to now include crude oil, as well as adding more capacity for fuel oil and clean products,” the top executive said.

During the ‘peak lockdown’ in the world in early April, storage space at the Fujairah hub was nearing full capacity, market participants told Argus at the time.  

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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