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Oman Oil Company S.A.O.C. (OOC), in partnership with Takamul Investment Company (Takamul), has established a new joint venture firm, Oman Tank Terminal Company LLC (OTTCO), to build, own and operate upto 200 million barrel oil terminal in Ras Markaz in Al Wusta Governorate. OTTCO will be 90% owned by OOC and 10% owned by Takamul.

Ras Markaz is located 70 kilometres north of the industrial oil and port town Duqm. The natural depth of 32 metres and its location on the Indian ocean, outside the Strait of Hormuz, provides Ras Markaz with an advantage in terms of handling the largest size crude carriers.

The aim of the partnership is to develop the terminal into the largest crude storage terminal in the Middle East region.

Commenting on the project, OOC said: "The strategic geographic location of the terminal, and being in the region which is the largest exporter of crude oil, sets a solid ground for Ras Markaz to emerge as an important global hub for oil storage.

"The size and geographic location of the terminal provides an excellent opportunity for it to emerge as an important hub in Middle East for storage and trading like Singapore in Asia and Rotterdam in Europe."

The Ras Markaz facility will serve as the second delivery point for Oman crude, in addition to Mina Al Fahal. The increase in storage volumes and the additional delivery point looks set to have a positive impact on the trading of Oman blend crude oil.

The terminal will serve strategic and commercial storage requirements for various customers - including the refinery in Duqm - and also provide blending facilities for crude. The facility will provide and operate different tank sizes, with a storage capacity of 755kbbl, 1mbbl and 1,75mbbl each. It will be built in phases, and Phase 1 is expected to be operational by 2017.

H.E. Nasser bin Khamis Al Jashmi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Oil and Gas and Chairman of OOC, said "The development of this world-scale crude oil terminal will be of strategic importance not only for Oman, but for the whole Middle East and Asian region. The Middle East, being the largest exporting region, occupies a significant position in the global crude trade and this will be strengthened in coming years, with increasing trading volumes from this region. Moreover, the terminal will attract the local, regional and international oil companies, traders and both exporting and importing countries looking for strategic crude storage" he added.

Ahmed Al Wahaibi, Chief Executive Officer of OOC, commented: "The total storage capacity of 200 million barrels will make this terminal one of the largest storage terminals in the world. The terminal enjoys the advantage of being connected via a dedicated pipeline to supply crude oil to the Duqm Refinery. It is expected that a total investments in Duqm in the coming years will reach approximately USD / 15 / billion. The mega projects of OOC like storage, refinery & petrochemicals and potential metal projects with further developments in the downstream value chain will facilitate growth of ancillary industries and services, improve the infrastructure facilities and increase employment opportunities in Al Wusta Governorate."

Image: Signing of the agreement to establish Oman Tank Terminal Company LLC (OTTCO)