March 26, 2014 [OPIS] - Bermuda-registered LPG trading and shipping company Petredec has completed construction of a 15,000-mt (179 million barrels) pressurized LPG storage facility on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, the company said this week.
The wholly owned on-land facility at Port Louis, which consists of a mounded structure, has been built for the island’s supply and to create a hub for re-exports.
The jetty can accommodate very large gas carriers (VLGCs) up to 84,000 cbm, of which Petredec has 12 units on order.
“Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean are very important markets for Petredec and this terminal will help us to supply the region even more competitively,” the company said in a statement. Mauritius depends on imports to meet most of its energy needs.
Separately, the company is pursuing plans to lease at least 25,000 mt of LPG storage capacity in South Africa. In late February, it disclosed a memorandum of understanding with an unnamed terminal operator foreseeing the construction of a minimum of 20,000 mt at Richards Bay and 5,000 mt at Johannesburg.
“Petredec currently supplies the majority of South Africa’s imported LPG, and with these facilities we will be able to bring in larger ships and deliver larger cargoes,” the company said on Feb. 28.
Petredec says it delivers more than 10 million mt (119.2 million barrels) of LPG per year worldwide.
