July 19, 2021 [Argus] – Australia’s federal government is funding up to A$260mn ($194mn) to build 10 storage facilities following last year’s pledge to assist the expansion of domestic diesel storage capacity by 780mn litres (4.9mn bl) to meet its IEA strategic reserve commitments.
Many of the projects are located in strategic regional locations, which will help minimise shortages of diesel during peak demand periods and lead to more than A$636mn of public and private-sector investment into these areas, Australian energy minister Angus Taylor said. The projects will also deliver 202mn l of additional gasoline and jet fuel storage funded by the private sector.
The government funding will help meet the new minimum stockholding obligation (MSO), which requires the industry to hold gasoline, jet fuel and diesel stocks at or above pre-Covid-19 national average levels from mid-2022, Taylor said. The MSO from mid-2024 will require importers to hold a 40pc increase in diesel stocks.
The government grants will cover up to 50pc of total eligible project expenditure. The new storage projects are expected to start construction from mid-2021 and be completed within three years.
A 126mn l facility in Newcastle, New South Wales (NSW) will be operated by Stolthaven Terminals, a subsidiary of Norwegian listed logistics and fuel storage group Stolt-Neilson. A 100mn l plant at Kwinana, Western Australia (WA) will be operated by Australian privately owned bulk liquids fuel storage firm Coogee Chemicals. A 90mn l facility at Geelong, Victoria will be operated by Australian refiner Viva Energy, which operates the 128,000 b/d Geelong refinery.
Australia’s privately owned Park Fuels will receive grants to build two storage facilities of 30mn l at the ports of Newcastle and Port Kembla, NSW where Park already has fuel storage facilities. Australian owned logistics firm Qube will also receive grants for two diesel storage plants, a 110mn l site at Lumsden Point at Port Hedland in WA and a 73mn l venture at Port Kembla.
Australian refiner Ampol will receive a grant for a 60mn l facility at Newport in Victoria. An 80mn l facility will be built in the Northern Territory’s Darwin to be operated by Airport Development Group that has the lease to operate Darwin airport. Another 80mn l facility will be built at the Outer Harbour in Adelaide, South Australia to be operated by a firm called Terminals. Outer Harbour is the location of a container terminal
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