Edwin Lammers, executive commercial manager at SOHAR Port and Freezone, has said that developing an efficient operations model has proven pivotal in attracting and retaining tank storage business at the port.
The statement came amid uncertain oil and gas markets and as question marks continue to surround global storage capacities.
Speaking at the Tank World Expo at Dubai World Trade Centre, Mr Lammers was one of a number of high profile industry leaders to address the conference, which focused on tank storage and its relationship with oil prices.
Following his presentation, he said that while oil prices continue to slump and storage capacities fill, being able to get liquid bulk on and off ships quickly is something that will be increasingly important.
“There are conflicting reports about whether there is a shortage of storage for oil.
“In the U.S., for example, total commercial stocks of crude oil are said to be close to 500mn barrels, which is nearly 150mn more than the average over the last five years. However, other analysts say storage facilities are sufficient.”
“In other regions, there may be genuine shortages, for example, in China. But whichever way you look at it at a certain point these huge volumes will need to be transported from storage facilities, and that is where having efficient operations and transportation comes into play in terms of turnaround times and costs.”
Lammers was full of praise for the liquid bulk terminal operator at SOHAR, Oiltanking Odfjell, and said that the diverse and flexible terminal facility, which offers 1.3mn cubic metres in storage for petroleum products, chemicals, and gases, also benefits from a direct pipeline to the refinery and aromatics plants.
“Oiltanking Odfjell has grown throughput from just over 3mn cubic metres in 2007, to over 14mn cubic metres today. This is an indication of how its deep water berths have been combined with a flexible system and high pump capacity to offer customers a quick and efficient vessel turn around,” he said.
