Saudi Aramco has agreed to lease storage tanks from Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation for the storage of Arabian crude oil at Japan’s Okinawa storage facilities.
The agreement follows Saudi Aramco’s agreement with Japan’s Agency for Natural Resources and Energy for a joint project to use crude oil storage facilities in Okinawa.
The project will secure storage for Arabian crudes in Japan and is also expected to further strengthen the company’s ties in the Asian region, having readily available crude oil supplies for its commercial customers in Asia.
“This agreement further underlines our long-standing relationship and commitment to being a reliable long-term supplier to our customers in the wider Asia region,” said Dawood M. Al-Dawood, vice president of marketing, supply and joint venture coordination.
The agreement allows for about 3.8 million barrels of Arabian crudes to be stored at the storage facilities initially, with the option of expanding storage in the future. The first shipment is expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2011.
