Oiltanking to build terminal in Cilegon

Oiltanking, the world’s second largest independent tank storage provider for petroleum products, gases and chemicals, is planning to build the first independent oil storage terminal in Indonesia at a total cost of US$120 million. Oiltanking President Director Theo Pangraz said that the first phase of the terminal would have a capacity of 280,000 cubic meters (cbm), part of which has already been reserved by market players. Construction of the terminal, which will be located in Cilegon, Banten, will begin in April, after being delayed for almost a year due to the complexity of the project. He said he hoped operations could commence in the second half of 2008. “We are very confident that in a very short time, we will be able to expand the storage facilities,” Pangraz said, adding that the company hoped to increase storage capacity to 600,000 cbm in the coming years. He also said that Oiltanking was considering building storage facilities in East Kalimantan, Sumatra and Kalimantan. The need for independent storage facilities is growing following the end of state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina’s monopoly on the distribution of non-subsidized high-octane fuels. Oiltanking, a division of Germany’s Marquard & Bahls AG, owns and operates 72 terminals in 19 countries in Europe, North and South America, the Middle East and Asia. (March 19, 2007)