June 6, 2013 [Platts] - Tank operator Onsan Tank Terminal has converted 20,000 kl (125,800 barrels) of clean products tanks to dirty products storage at its 100,000 kl Onsan terminal in May to meet customers' needs, a source close to the matter said.
Before the conversion, 30,000 kl of storage capacity was used for dirty products and 70,000 kl was for clean products.
After the conversion, half of its total capacity or 50,000 kl – is for dirty and the other half is for clean products.
Of this 50,000 kl storage for dirty products, S-Oil has leased 20,000 kl to store bunker fuel, a source at S-Oil said. Another 20,000 kl is leased out to a Japanese trading house, a source close to the matter said.
Onsan Tank Terminal and S-Oil plan to connect the tanks to S-Oil’s 669,000 b/d refinery at Onsan via pipeline, with construction of the pipeline to be completed in late June or July, company sources said. The completion of the pipeline will make the transfer more efficient, they added.
At present, S-Oil is using ships to transport bunker fuel from the refinery to the storage tanks.
Meanwhile, Japanese oil trader Nakagawa Bussan is using part of clean products storage, with the rest leased out to other companies, one of the sources said.
Onsan Tank Terminal is made up of a consortium of Japanese and South Korean companies. Its main shareholders are Nakagawa Bussan (36.64%), South Korean city gas supplier Yesco (24%) and South Korean LPG supplier E1 (24%).
