Oiltanking Grindrod Calulo Holdings (Pty) Ltd (OTGC), a subsidiary of Oiltanking GmbH, and Mining, Oil and Gas Services Pty Ltd (MOGS) are pleased to announce a joint venture agreement to construct a commercial crude oil storage and blending terminal with a total capacity of 13.2 million barrels comprising twelve 1.1 million bbls concrete tanks in the Port of Saldanha Bay.

The development, construction, management and operations of the terminal will be carried out by the new company called “Oiltanking MOGS Saldanha (Pty) Ltd” (OTMS). MOGS initiated the project in 2011 and has since completed the pre-feasibility studies and design and is in the final stages of obtaining the required statutory approvals. MOGS and OTGC will each hold 50 percent of shares in the company.

Port of Saldanha Bay is an excellent location for a crude oil hub as it is close to strategic tanker routes from key oil producing regions to major oil consuming markets. It is ideally situated for the blending of West African and South American crude oils. Port of Saldanha Bay has the potential to establish itself as a global crude transhipment hub focussed on certain established trade routes.

The new crude oil terminal in the Port of Saldanha Bay will be built as state-of-the-art facility in accordance with the highest technical, operational and environmental standards. Its jetty will be designed for handling vessels up to VLCC (very large crude carrier) size.

About Oiltanking Grindrod Calulo Holdings (Pty) Ltd
Oiltanking Grindrod Calulo Holdings (Pty) Ltd is an independent bulk liquid storage provider in South Africa which combines world class expertise of Oiltanking GmbH in the field of bulk liquids handling with the local expertise and the full Black Economic Empowerment credentials of Grindrod South Africa (Pty) Ltd and Calulo Terminals (Pty) Ltd. Through direct holdings via Calulo and indirect holding via Grindrod South Africa, the joint venture is a fully empowered entity with a level 2 empowerment classification.

About MOGS (Pty) Ltd
MOGS (Pty) Ltd is a subsidiary of Royal Bafokeng Holdings (Pty) Limited (RBH) and is a black owned, BBBEE accredited holding company that focuses on providing a selection of products and services to the mining, oil and gas services industry in South Africa, Africa and the Middle East.

About Oiltanking GmbH
Oiltanking GmbH is a subsidiary of Marquard & Bahls AG, Germany, a leading petroleum company, privately owned. Oiltanking is the second largest independent tank storage provider for petroleum products, chemicals and gases worldwide. The company owns and operates 73 terminals in 23 countries within Europe, North and South America, Middle East, Africa, India as well as Asia. Oiltanking has an overall storage capacity of 20.4 million cubic meters.

About Grindrod South Africa (Pty) Ltd
Grindrod South Africa (Pty) Ltd is a company with more than 100 years’ experience in South Africa’s freight movement, providing shipping and logistics solutions to clients. Grindrod’s operations are focused on transportation, storage and handling of dry and liquid bulk commodities, containers and automobiles, their operations also extend to include commodity trading and financial services.

About Calulo Terminals (Pty) Ltd
Calulo Terminals (Pty) Ltd is a South African black owned and controlled investment company focusing on oil and chemical sectors. Calulo has significant holdings in companies throughout the value chain and controlling interests in companies which focus on providing comprehensive logistics solutions to the oil, gas and chemical sectors.