April 8, 2012 [Khaleej Times] - Gulf Petrochem Group, a leading player in oil sector, is confident to launch operations at Fujairah oil terminal project in October this year, its top official said.
The Sharjah-based company, which finalised the deal with Fujairah government in January, said the phase one of the oil terminal project is on the verge of completion and will have capacity of up to 1.2 million cubic metres of storage. Fujairah Government has a 12 per cent stake in the project.
“We are open to signing contracts to lease our capacities,” Sanjeev Sisaudia, group chief executive of Gulf Petrochem Group, told Khaleej Times during an interview.
Gulf Petrochem Group, a $500 million company, is sourcing base oil from all over the world with the goal to achieve a target of 150,000 metric tonnes for 2012 globally.Within a few years of the commissioning of a refinery in Sharjah’s Hamriyah Freezone, Gulf Petrochem has firmly established itself into seven strategic business units, oil trading, bunkering, oil refining, grease manufacturing, oil storage terminals, bitumen manufacturing and shipping and logistics.
Sisaudia said the oil terminal consists of 112,233 square metres, which includes 73,269 square metres of expansion capability. The two oil-terminals of Fujairah port will offer seven berths for large tankers and 12 berths for small tankers.
“Terminal 1 has a maximum draft of 14 metres and a wharf length of 847 metres. The second terminal has a maximum draft of 18 metres and a wharf length of 1,400 metres,” he said.
He said Gulf Petrochem currently holds 18 per cent market share in the Middle East. “We are confident to achieve 25 per cent market share this year,” he said. “Our focus will remain on increasing infrastructure particularly in the Oman market and new roads to be constructed in UAE. Qatar is one more market we are focusing on this year.”
He said Asia remains an important region for Gulf Petrochem and the company plans further strategic growth in line with that. “Planned growth will be largely driven by oil terminal business in Fujairah, Pipavav and Port Klang which will serve GCC, Indian subcontinent and Far East regions,” Sisaudia said.
“Port Klang storage and our trading offices in UAE and Singapore (and Geneva) will help us better to serve the Asian market for base oil product. Our sourcing abilities, owned vessels and manufacturing facilities will help us expand in the Asian markets for bitumen too. These company strengths combined serve to give us a serious foothold in the Asian market and bolster our plans for growth in the region.”
In reply to a question, he said the company’s focus in second half of 2012 will remain on Fujairah oil terminal.
“The company’s focus will mainly be on Fujairah oil terminal during the second half of this year. The project is expected to leverage on the strategic location and infrastructure of Fujairah to benefit the group’s clients in the region.”
He said the second half of 2012 will also see expanding our bunkering business and reaching global markets with our trading offices in Geneva, India, Singapore and the UAE.
“We have plans to acquire new vessels in the future, as we feel that having our own fleet of vessels supports our business model and also facilitates an entry into shipping business. We have planned additions of five more vessels in the near future, ranging between 7,000 to 20,000 metric tonnes,” Sisaudia concluded.
