October 22, 2018 [S&P Global Platts] - The fuel oil terminal at the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk could be switched to handling light products, after a project for its transformation has been approved by the Rostov subsidiary of the Glavgozexpertiza, Russia's institution for evaluating design documentation.
The project envisages an upgrade of the terminal by transforming the storage tanks from handling fuel oil to handling light products, Glavgozexpertiza said in a statement. Some equipment will also need to be upgraded or built.
The rail ramps and pumps will undergo reconstruction and new pipelines for shipping light products will be built.
The project is still under consideration and there are no concrete plans for its implementation yet, according to a market source.
The fuel oil terminal, which specializes in handling fuel oil transshipment, is within the IPP products terminal, which is part of the Novorossiisk Commercial Sea Port (NMTP). Fuel oil is also handled from the separate Sheskharis terminal at the port.
NMTP was not available to comment.
NMTP is the third biggest port operator in Europe in terms of throughput, according to its website.
The potential reduction of fuel oil handling capacity at the Black Sea port comes as Russian refineries reduce their fuel oil output as a result of large-scale modernization which had increased their depth of processing and ability to produce light products.
Meanwhile, Russia’s pipeline operator Transneft, which owns 60.62% of NMTP, started shipping Euro 5, 10 ppm diesel to Novorossiisk at the end of 2017 and expects to increase the capacity of the South, or Yug pipeline, to 6 million mt/year.
Transneft expects to increase diesel and gasoline exports via Novorossiisk as fuel oil exports drop. This year the port also started naphtha exports.
—————————-
TankTerminals.com – Research, Market and Expand Your Presence within the Tank Storage Industry. Learn more.
