The agreement was signed at the Oiltanking’s office at Sohar by Shell Oman marketing managing director Adil bin Ismail Al Raisi and Zeger Van Asch Van Wijck, chief executive of Oiltanking.

Shell Oman lubricant blending plant is a state-of-the-art ISO 9001:2008 certified plant currently producing over 60 million litres of different types and grades of lubricants for various uses ranging from consumer cars to aviation, marine and industrial products.

Currently the plant produces various products for local market and 70 per cent is exported to over 22 countries in Middle East, South Asia and Central Asian States.

Oiltanking Odfjell Terminals (OOT) is located in the Port of Sohar with a current tank capacity of 1,267,500 cubic meters ideally positioned to support trade and cargo flows within the Middle East region as well as flows from the Gulf to other continents and regions. OOT is by far the most diversified terminal in the region offering flexible facilities and infrastructure for the storage and handling of petroleum products, chemicals and gases.

Multiple deep water berths combined with a state of art line system with high pump capacities assure customers of a quick and efficient vessel turn around at the Sohar Industrial Port.

The upcoming additional storage tanks for Shell Oman base oil products are part of a bigger expansion project adding more chemical capacities to OOT’s current operations.

Speaking on the occasion, Ahmed Hilal, Shell Oman lubricants plant manager said, “This agreement will enhance our operational efficiency by having raw material always available within three hours drive from plant professionally stored and handled by Oiltanking at efficient cost avoiding major capital investment and terminal management.”

Said Al Rawahi, Shell commercial fuel manager said “Shell Oman is exploring more export opportunities as this agreement will make us able to meet local growing demands and increase the plant capacity to produce up to 100 million liters of lubricants annually.”