$400m Ras Markaz terminal to help Oman to set up a global oil reserve hub

Muscat: Oman on Saturday announced that the construction of a $400 million oil storage terminal in Ras Markaz near Duqm will help achieve the country’s major plan to establish a strategic oil reserve in the country.
The first phase of the terminal will start with a capacity of between 6 million and 10 million barrels, but could be expanded in the future to store larger quantities of up to 200 million barrels.
Dr Mohammed bin Hamad Al Rumhy, Minister of Oil and Gas, chairman of Oman Oil Company, announced that the construction of oil storage terminal in Ras Markaz came in implementation of the directives of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said.
“The first phase of the project will need between $300 million and $400 million for the construction of infrastructure, OOC will continue to develop the project and increase the number of tanks, in line with the growth in demand for oil storage facilities. Our ambition for Ras Markaz to be one of the largest oil storage hubs worldwide,” elaborated Dr Al Rumhi.
Dr Al Rumhy, during a visit to Ras Markaz, said that after the issuance of Royal directives,the Ministry of Oil and Gas, in cooperation with Oman Oil Company (OOC), studied several sites for oil storage and found that Ras Markaz was a good site that achieves the strategic and economic objectives of oil storage project.
Ras Markaz terminal is about 70km from Duqm. It was annexed to the Special Economic Zone in Duqm according to Royal Decree (5/2016) issued on January 28, 2016.Oman Tank Terminal Company (OTTOC), a subsidiary of OOC, will execute the project.
Dr Al Rumhy also emphasised that international companies have evinced strong interest in the use of Ras Markaz as a hub for oil storage.
On the plan of OOC to finance the project in light of falling oil prices, Al Rumhy said the low oil prices is a challenge, but “OOC will not rely on the state budget in the financing of the project.This project needs global financing in a traditional way by bank loans.”
“We do not rely on state budget to finance this project or Duqm Refinery.The plan of OOC is to finance its projects by borrowing from banks and international banking institutions,” added the minister.
Eng. Essam bin Saud Al Zadjali, chief executive officer of OOC, said that the goal is be to “make Ras Markaz a global site for the storage of oil and its derivatives. In the first phase, the terminal shall serve Duqm Refinery and will provide its oil from Oman and other parts of the world.”
“Oil storage terminal in Ras Markaz is an economic hub of many countries, which we are currently working to attract,” added Eng. Al Zadjali.
Dr Al Rumhy and members of OOC board visited Duqm Refinery, petroleum reservoirs project, project of Central Facilities Company, in addition to Duqm Port and Dry Dock.