Floating storage facility launched in Oman

A new floating storage facility with a 2.1 million barrel capacity has been launched by the Oman Tank Terminal Company (OTTCO).
OTTCO is the first storage company in the world to provide floating storage linked to an energy futures contract.
The facility at Minal Al Fahal will serve customers of Oman Export Blend and China Oil. Glencore and Oman Trading International have won bids for access to the facility on board a VLCC operated by Oman Shipping Company.
It has been developed in partnership with OSC, Petroleum Development Oman and the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME). The vessel will be operated by OSC and PDO will manage the scheduling and nomination for the loading of crude oil. Ship-to-ship transfers will be executed by Fendercare Marine.
The initiative also makes DME the first exchange in the world to incorporate floating storage at delivery point for customers, thereby supporting the trading of DME Oman crude oil futures on the exchange while strengthening its strong trading ecosystem.
Additionally, the facility will also buyers on the DME to store their oil and optimise market circumstances to their benefit – thus giving them extra flexibility.
The facility is an interim storage solution for select customers ahead of the commissioning of the Ras Markaz Crude Oil Park. Once complete and operational it will have a total capacity of 200 million barrels of oil making it the world’s largest crude oil facility.
OTTCO’s chairman of the board Hilal Al Kharusi says: ‘OTTCO’s floating storage facility is an important step in the introduction of our organisation to the global oil trading community, and the strong interest that we have had from bidders has been encouraging.
‘This is an exciting time for OTTCO, and we expect the floating storage facility to add value to Oman Export Blend as a benchmark, as well as directly benefitting Oman’s crude oil market.’