Fujairah is the UAE’s only emirate fully outside the Strait of Hormuz, a shipping chokepoint at the entrance to the Arabian Gulf through which about one third of the total global oil shipments passes, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Its location in the Indian Ocean provides direct access to markets in Asia and Africa, thus becoming a strategic position to attract greater export / import, and also boost frequencies of maritime routes to and from this region.
Vopak Horizon Fujairah
Vopak Horizon Fujairah – one of the largest independent oil storage terminals in the world – is a joint venture between Royal Vopak (33.3 percent), Horizon Terminals (33.3 percent) – wholly owned by Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), the Government of Fujairah (22.2 percent), and Kuwait’s Independent Petroleum Group (11.1 percent). The main activities of Vopak Horizon Fujairah include blending, storage, breaking bulk and consolidating of petroleum products and crude oil.
Strategically located at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz on the eastern side of the UAE, outside the Gulf, Vopak Horizon Fujairah is a leading storage and handling service provider for petroleum products in Fujairah. Established in 1998, it is the first independent oil storage terminal in Fujairah, accounting for over 30 per cent of the total market share. The terminal received the first vessel in December 1998 and started serving its customers with an initial 400,000 cubic metres (cbm) of storage capacity for petroleum products.
Over the years, the company has expanded its storage capacity over seven expansion phases to 2.6 million cbm with six berths and one SPM (single point mooring). In 2013, a connection to the Port of Fujairah’s matrix manifold was established, connecting the terminal to the jetties of the port, other terminals in Fujairah, and a power plant. Today, the facility has 73 tanks, six jetties and one single mooring buoy. The terminal can accept tankers of up to 175,000 deadweight tonnage (dwt) at its own jetties and fully laden VLCCs through the port jetties. The facility is designed in accordance with global standards on health, safety and environment and has achieved ISO 9001-2008 and ISO 14001-2004 certifications. The company employs 130 people.
Project Black Pearl
In November 2016, Vopak Horizon Fujairah celebrated the commissioning of the seventh phase of expansion, known as Project Black Pearl, adding 478,000 cbm of crude oil storage capacity, expanding its volume by almost 20 percent, to increase the facility’s total capacity to 2.6 million cbm. This new capacity is the first crude oil capacity in the Middle East for independent storage purposes with open access and very large crude carrier (VLCC) access. Its open access means capacity for all parties that need to store crude oil.
The expansion features five storage tanks, one manifold and a pipeline connection to the VLCC jetty as well as to other jetties in the Port of Fujairah. All crude oil handled in the new tanks will be loaded and discharged through the jetties of the Port of Fujairah. The Port of Fujairah opened a new VLCC jetty in September 2016. Vopak Horizon Fujairah was the launching customer for this new jetty.
HE Saif Humaid Al Falasi, group CEO, ENOC, said: “The latest expansion of Vopak Horizon Fujairah strengthens the emirate as one of the world’s leading hubs for crude oil and oil products. I especially thank the Government of Fujairah for their continued and ongoing support to the venture. Our continuous partnership with the government reflects our national prerogative to champion the cause of the country’s potential and its culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, which enhances the Emirate’s status as a premier hub for imports and exports.”
“Fujairah will further boost its influence as an oil-trading hub with the addition of the region’s first crude-shipment jetty and expanded storage facilities. Vopak Horizon Fujairah will be an integral part of that growth over the next few years,” added Al Falasi.
Eelco Hoekstra, chairman of the executive board and CEO of Royal Vopak, commented: “We congratulate the team of Vopak Horizon Fujairah, our strategic partners and the Port of Fujairah, for successfully and safely completing this major expansion project. It is another safety milestone to be proud of. We are very excited that, with this open access crude oil capacity, we are together laying the foundation for Fujairah to also become a trading hub for crude oil in the important Gulf region.”
Vopak Horizon Fujairah has a solid safety track record with over 15 million man-hours and nine years without LTI (lost-time injury). The latest expansion project contributed with three million safe man-hours.
Horizon Terminals
ENOC Terminals is one of the five business segments of Emirates National Oil Company, a Dubai-owned vertically integrated oil and gas company. ENOC Terminals handles ENOC group’s expanding bulk fuel, crude oil pipeline and transportation systems. These activities, commonly referred to as ‘terminalling’, are managed by Horizon Terminals Limited (HTL), which was established in 2003 to consolidate the ENOC group’s terminalling investments and expand the business globally. HTL is one of the fastest growing terminalling businesses in the region.
With 11 terminals in Morocco, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Korea and Singapore, HTL facilities are strategically located in key markets across the Mediterranean, the Middle East and Far East Asia. HTL also handles domestic fuels such as gasoline, diesel, asphalt and MC asphalt supplies through its joint venture with Chevron – EPPCO International. The unit meets the aviation requirements of Dubai and the Northern Emirates through its services of bunkering, re-exports and strategic defence storage.
HTL expanded its facilities in 2015, with the completion of phase one of Falcon Terminal, a 58 kilometre jet fuel pipeline from Jebel Ali to Dubai International Airport. Phase two of the project consists of a 19 kilometre extension from HTL terminals in Jebel Ali to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South to cater to the airport’s future jet fuel needs.
HTL portfolio
HTL’s portfolio includes facilities in the UAE and beyond. These include the following Horizon terminals in the UAE: Horizon Jebel Ali Terminals (Dubai, UAE) with chemical storage of 54,401 cbm in 53 tanks; EPPCO International in Jebel Ali (Dubai, UAE) with a petroleum storage of 934,256 cbm in 50 tanks; Horizon Emirates Jebel Ali Petroleum (Falcon, Dubai, UAE) with a petroleum storage 152,000 cbm in seven tanks; Vopak Horizon Fujairah (Fujairah, UAE) with petroleum storage of 2.6 million cbm in 73 tanks; Horizon Emirates Fujairah Trading Terminal and Distribution (Fujairah, UAE) with petroleum storage of 482,619 cbm in 23 tanks.
Horizon terminals abroad are: Arabtank Terminal (Saudi Arabia) with petroleum and chemical storage of 288,828 cbm in 26 tanks; Horizon Taeyoung Korea Terminals (South Korea) with petroleum and chemical storage of 232,450 cbm in 41 tanks; Horizon Djibouti Terminals (Djibouti) with petroleum and gas storage of 399,304 cbm in 31 tanks; Horizon Tangier Terminals (Tangier, Morocco) with petroleum and gas storage of 532,919 cbm in 19 tanks; and Horizon Singapore Terminals (Singapore) with petroleum storage of 1,252,184 cbm in 59 tanks.
