This is the third time the Broward County Commission has issued this tender to build a new terminal, following numerous delays associated with debates over economic benefits and tender process in the past two years.  

A short list of interested parties, which will include only Vitol and TransMontaigne, will be finalized on May 10, and both companies will make their presentations to the Broward County Commission on May 23.  The selection committee will then rank these proposals according to economic feasibility for the county.  

Both companies are already major players in the Southeast fuel supply market. A new terminal at Port Everglades would expand their fuel supply network and increase their market shares.  
Vitol is the owner and operator of a 2.8-million-bbl oil/ethanol terminal at Port Canaveral, and TransMontaigne is a major player in the Southeast regional fuel supply market.   TransMontaigne has existing storage tanks in Port Everglades. Last year, it constructed some new tanks there, totaling 438,000 bbl, for storing cutterstock and fuel oil.   Previous companies interested in building a new terminal at Port Everglades included Magellan Midstream Partners, Oiltanking Houston and Nustar Energy.   Last May, Magellan won the previous tender, but it pulled out of the $80 million project unexpectedly in December 2010.  

“There were several delays in the regulatory process. During this time, market conditions changed and we reassessed our interest in the potential project in Port Everglades,” Bruce Heine, a Magellan spokesman, told OPIS earlier this year.   “We notified Broward County officials late last year that we elected not to proceed with contractual negotiations,” he added.

FLORIDA GATEWAY

Port Everglades is seen as the gateway to Miami and Fort Lauderdale on the Atlantic coast.   It has about 12 oil terminals and a total storage capacity of about 11 million bbl. The capacity increased about 29% or 2.5 million bbl from two years ago.   Vecenergy commissioned a 1.35-million-bbl storage capacity terminal at Port Everglades in 2009, and another 1.15 million bbl of capacity was added in the past two years.  
TransMontaigne and Amerada Hess built some new tanks last year.   Terminal owners at Port Everglades include BP, Chevron, Citgo, Marathon, Motiva and TransMontaigne.  
Petroleum accounts for approximately one-fifth of Port Everglades’ total revenues.   In the latest tender, Broward County, Fla., tweaked its requirements, possibly to adjust to the different economic environment compared with two years ago.  
The Port Everglades Department has available for long-term lease an out-of- service liquid bulk storage facility including approximately 12.56 to 13.79 acres of land with 10 above-ground storage tanks of approximately 96,000(shell) barrel capacity each.  
The lease is for a period of 20 years with the option of up to 10 additional years and to have it redeveloped to maximize the future value as an operating liquid bulk terminal facility as quantified by a combination of annual rental payments to the county and proposed capital investment in terminal infrastructure.  
Broward County lowered the minimum annual rent from $1 million to $850,000 for the original 12.56-acre site.   The minimum annual rent for the 13.79-acre option was lowered from $1.2 million to $1.05 million.  
Also, the terminal owner would need to maintain inventory and provide the county with the option to purchase during hurricane season up to 420,000 gallons of gasoline and 420,000 gallons of ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel per storm event, either from the leased terminal or a suitable alternate located within Port Everglades.  
The county has reduced the requirement that respondents demonstrate the ability to finance a minimum of $40 million in fixed capital investment to $15 million.   The working capital requirement has been reduced from a $50 million level to $20 million.