Some $120-$180 million of Buckeye’s BORCO investment will be pumped into the ongoing 7.9 million barrel expansion, the SEC filing revealed.

“Our flagship marine terminal in the Bahamas, BORCO, is one of the largest marine crude oil and petroleum products storage facilities in the world, serving the international markets as a premier global logistics hub,” Buckeye said, extolling the virtues of a facility that increased adjusted operating income for its international operations by $117.7 million year-over-year.

BORCO was also largely responsible for the $193.1 million increase in revenues from Buckeye’s international operations, although their costs and expenses also rose by $116.3 million.

Looking ahead, Buckeye said BORCO’s 2011 performance was impacted by lower-than-expected berthing revenues, along with reduced tanker traffic and the closure of a US Virgin Islands refinery. Yet short-term petroleum product demand had risen, with crude oil production in South America increasing.

“We believe the closure of the Caribbean refinery and the continued rationalisation of Northeast [US] refineries position BORCO to capitalise on increased demand for refined product storage, as customers re-work their logistics chains to respond to changing supply patterns,” Buckeye said.

“We may experience some softness in demand for berthing and other ancillary services if the forward product pricing does not create inventory optimisation opportunities for our customers, although we do not expect the lack of availability of blending components to impact 2012, as our customer has secured an alternate source of supply.”

“BORCO is also expected to benefit in 2012 as the first phase of our expansion project begins to come on-line in the second half of the year.”