March 8, 2008 [Reuters] – State-owned Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) said on Saturday it plans to build a $200 million oil products storage facility that will mainly service the Gulf Arab Emirate’s planned new airport.

DMCC said in a statement it will develop the 570,000 cubic metre (3.59 million barrel) facility in Techno Park free zone together with United Arab Emirates-based Star Energy Resources Ltd and Tropicana Trading DMCC.

The Dubai facility will store oil products such as gasoline, jet fuel and fuel oil, DMCC said. In addition, two new oil tanker berths will be built at Jebel Ali port, with the capacity to accommodate tankers of up to 80,000 tonnes, it said.

The final investment decision will be subject to results of a front-end engineering and design (FEED) study, which is expected to be completed within 6 months.

Dubai, part of OPEC member UAE, is trying to position itself as a hub for oil and gas trading in the Gulf, the world’s largest oil exporting region. Techno Park is a zone set up by Dubai government that caters mainly to desalination and water, technology, oil and gas and research and development businesses.