January 15, 2013 [Oman Daily Observer] - A massive crude oil storage hub planned by the government at Ras Markaz near Duqm could also serve as an alternative export terminal for Omani Crude, according to the Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Oil and Gas.
Nasser bin Khamis al Jashmi said a second export terminal would help provide a ready outlet for Omani crude in the event of supply disruptions affecting the nation’s only crude export terminal at Mina Al Fahal in Muscat Governorate.
The Under-Secretary was speaking to journalists after yesterday’s signing of a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will pave the way for the establishment of what is billed as the world’s largest crude oil storage hub at Ras Markaz on the Wusta coast.
The giant facility which, at full capacity will store up to 200 million barrels of crude, is planned to be developed in phases by Oman Tank Terminal Company LLC (OTTCO), which has been set up by Oman Oil Company SAOC (OOC), the wholly government owned energy investment vehicle, in partnership with its downstream investment subsidiary, Takamul Investment Company. OTTCO is owned 90 per cent by OOC and 10 per cent by Takamul.
“Part of the MoU’s purpose is to consider in the future the potential to use Ras Markaz as a second crude oil export point for Oman,” Al Jashm said. “This option will be studied not only from a strategic point of view, but also in the event if there are any disturbances – natural or of other different kinds – then we have a second export point (to fall back on). Duqm is also an ideal place for strategic oil storage in such kinds of (adverse) situations.”
Also as part of its brief, OTTCO will build a new crude oil pipeline that will link Oman’s Main Oil Line in central Oman with the Ras Markaz Terminal. The 440km long pipeline, whose capacity will be determined as part of a boarder study of the storage hub project, will travel from Nihayda to the Duqm coast. Nihayda is where Omani crudes pumped from different fields is collected and mixed to form the Oman blend before it is pumped via the Main Oil Line to Mina al Fahal for export.
According to Martijn Notten, OTTCO’s Project Director, the Ras Markaz terminal could also store other petroleum products in the future. A technical feasibility study, which would help throw light on the capacity and investment costs of the project, is nearing completion, he said. Front-end engineering design (FEED) work and actual construction will commence only once firm contracts are agreed.
