Oiltanking is pleased to announce the start of construction of 450,000 cbm capacity at its joint venture company in the Industrial Port of Sohar. Oiltanking Odfjell Terminals & Co LLC, embarked upon another expansion of its recently completed 915,000 cbm terminal. The Engineering, Procurement and Construction contract was signed with a consortium of Indian Oiltanking Engineering & Construction Services LLC and Larsen & Toubro Electromech LLC.

The expansion so quickly after completion of the existing tank farm shows that Oiltanking’s strategy to develop Sohar into an international bulk liquid storage and handling hub is working. Sohar is strategically located in the vicinity of major international shipping lanes just outside the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf of Oman.

The terminal caters for the storage and handling of petroleum products, chemicals and gasses. Part of the existing facility is pipeline linked and dedicated to a nearby world scale chemical plant. Oiltanking Odfjell operates six jetties of which four are capable of handling vessels up to 110,000 dwt and two jetties can handle vessels up to 70,000 dwt. The terminal’s infrastructure provides excellent flexibility to its customers, quick turnaround times for vessels and has added capabilities such as truck loading, blending and injecting of additives. It has multiple pipeline connections to the nearby refinery.

Oiltanking Odfjell Terminals & Co LLC is a joint venture of Oiltanking Odfjell Oman BV (70%), Oman Oil Company (25%) and a private investment company (5%). Oiltanking Odfjell Terminals Oman BV is a joint venture registered in the Netherlands between Oiltanking GmbH (42.5%), Odfjell Terminals AS (42.5%) and Star Energy Group Limited (15%). In November 2004, Oiltanking Odfjell signed a contract for the operation of liquid berthing facilities and the development of an independent bulk liquids storage terminal at the Sohar Industrial port in the Sultanate of Oman.

Oiltanking GmbH is a subsidiary of Marquard & Bahls AG, Germany, a leading privately owned petroleum company. Oiltanking is the second-largest independent tank storage provider for petroleum products, chemicals and gases world-wide. The company owns and operates 68 terminals in 21 countries within Europe, North and South America, Middle East, India as well as Asia. Oiltanking has an overall capacity of 16.2 million CBM.