June 4, 2009 [Verwater Groep] - Today, investment company Lenstar signed a contract at Verwater Group Headquarters in Hoogvliet, for the build of a new tank farm in Kedah, Malaysia. Shiv Grewal, Chairman of the UK based Lenstar Investment Ltd and Managing Director of Lenstar Mohammad Munir Malik, both put their signature to the 220 million euro agreement. The project, which entails the of building a new storage terminal for 1.000.000 m3 crude oil, will take less than 36 months to complete.
Lenstar invests in hydrocarbon projects such as tank storage, refinery and the further processing of oil products in the Middle and Far East. The building of a storage facility for crude oil in Malaysia, fits Lenstars’ vision to play an important role in the expansion of the hydrocarbon industry in the Far East.
The company has already purchased the land (100ha) and is in possession of all necessary permits to start the build of the new tank farm, including a 22 kilometres long pipeline towards the coast of mainland Malaysia.
The tank farm will be used by the Malaysian company Pristine Oil for the storage of crude oil. Munir Malik elaborates on choosing Malaysia as the location for the new facility: “There are three important regions when it comes to the trade of crude oil worldwide, namely Suez, Panama and the Malacca Straits. Therefor Malaysia is strategically located with both Singapore and Indonesia close at hand. Furthermore, a stable and fast growing economy played an important role in choosing for Malaysia.” According to Grewal, the build of the new tank farm will provide for approximately 10.000 new jobs in the region. Once commissioned, more than 2.000 people will find employment at the new site. Munir Malik doesn’t believe the current economic climate is cause for postponing the project: “Storage facilities are scarce and the certainty that oil prices will rise support Lenstars’ investment in this project.”
The cooperation between Verwater and Lenstar stems from a joint venture in the Middle East. Grewal comments on selecting Verwater for this assignment: “Verwater is a medium sized privately held company that has been in the trade of building, maintaining and repairing tank farms since 1922. The many years of expertise and the experience from earlier projects with Verwater in the Middle East were led to asking Verwater to work together on this project as well.” For Verwater the assignment represents a total sum of 220 million euros. The design of the tank farm will take 6 to 8 months. And in several months civil works will be started.
