This new facility will act as a supplement to the other storage facility already operated by the company in the town of Santurce, which was inaugurated in 2006.

The construction of the new CLH facility in the Port of Bilbao represents an investment of 18.2 million euros, and it provides an improvement to the oil product storage and distribution system in the Basque country and neighbouring regions, in addition to offering commercial capacity in a point strategically located in relation to the world flows expected for the forthcoming years, thus making it possible to meet expected growing demand for oil products in the area.

The new plant has 8 tanks with a total storage capacity of 123,000 cubic metres. A second phase has been planned to provide for another three tanks of 38,000 cubic metres, which will add a capacity of 114,000 cubic metres. The facility is connected to the Santurce plant, the refinery, the tanker vessel jetty and the company’s pipeline network, which provides this infrastructure with high flexibility and operational capacity, as it can receive and dispatch oil products from multiple points. This new facility will store gasoline, diesel oil, kerosene, biofuel and other products with complete flexibility.

Furthermore, it has been provided with all the services required to operate with maximum efficiency, safety and sustainability, such as control systems, rain water and hydrocarbon water collection networks, a fire-fighting system, perimeter security protection and other ancillary equipment. As is customary in CLH, the plant will be operational 24/7 and 365 days a year.

Presence in the Basque Country

In addition to this new facility in the Port of Bilbao, CLH operates another two centres in the Basque Country, which are located in the towns of Santurce and Rivabellosa, as well as a facility operated by CLH Aviación at Bilbao airport.

Furthermore, the company operates a pipeline which is 152 kilometres long and connects CLH facilities with the refinery located in Muskiz, the Port of Bilbao and the rest of the company’s pipeline network.

These infrastructures are the result of the investment efforts made by CLH in the Basque country, which have amounted to over 100 million euros between 2007 and 2015 and have made it possible to commission the new facility at the Port of Bilbao, as well as those located in Santurce and at the airport of the capital city of the region.

CLH investments include the dismantling and cleaning of the land formerly occupied by the facilities of the Port of Santurce and Muskiz, with the company having undertaken an ambitious environmental and landscape recovery project of the marshland of the river Barbadún, which represented an investment of 13 million euros.

With regard to its activities in 2014, CLH supplied more than 2.5 million cubic metres of fuel to various operators through its facilities in the Basque country to meet end user demand.