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The Socar Aurora oil storage terminal in Fujairah is expected to be launched later this year, according to local media reports.

The joint venture project has been progressing ahead of schedule and the first 115,000 cubic metres of capacity are now expected to come online during the fourth quarter of 2011.

Once completed, the facility will have a total storage capacity of 644,000 cubic meters across 20 tanks and be used for the storage, blending, and resupply of fuel oils, gasolines, naphthas and middle distillates (diesel, gasoil & jet kerosene). The new terminal will be managed by the joint company Socar Aurora, which will offer storage capacity to third parties.

State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (Socar) entered into an agreement with privately-owned Swiss trading house Aurora Progress to collaborate in the development of oil storage facilities, including the new oil terminal being built in Fujairah, in May 2010.

In December 2010, Socar said that the terminal was expected to be completed within 18 months. The state oil firm had also said in September that the involvement of a third investor in the joint project was under consideration. The unnamed firm was said to be a local company based in Abu Dhabi.

The port of Fujairah has commissioned a new multi berth facility for the receipt and loading of oil tankers. The Socar Aurora terminal will be one of the first to make use of this new vessel handling capacity at the Middle East energy hub.

Commenting on the project last year, Aurora's Trading Director Ammar Kutait said: "There is a lot of demand for storage in the region and with our new state of the art terminal and flexible berthing facilities in the port we can offer our customers a first rate service in this growth market."