Azerbaijan and Fujairah Connected by Oil

Partners
+ The Azeri State energy company SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic) is to build a new oil terminal at Fujairah.

+ SOCAR is partnering with AURORA Progress a privately owned Geneva-based Swiss trading house to build the project.

+Management will be by a joint company ‘SOCAR AURORA’.

Project
+ The name: ‘SOCAR AURORA Fujairah Terminal’.

+ Twenty reservoirs for shipment.

+ Storage capacity of up to 20 mill tones of refined oil products annually.

+ Terminal will handle fuels, gasoline, naphthas and middle distillates (diesel, gas oil and jet kerosene).

Cost
+ The first stage will cost up to $10 mill.

+ The finance is available.

Timetable
+ The new terminal is expected to be ready by the beginning of 2011.

Products
+ The terminal is to be used for oil products sold in this region, not Azeri-refined products.

Reason
+ A SOCAR official said there is a deficit of oil products and a growing market, hence the need for greater storage.

Local Benefits
+ The increased oil volumes strengthens Fujairah’s role as a key international trading hub and bunkering port.

+ The Port of Fujairah is commissioning in 2010 a new multi-berth facility for receiving and loading oil tankers.

Azerbaijan
According to Wikipedia:
+ Two thirds of Azerbaijan is rich in oil and natural gas.

+ In September 1994, a 30-year contract was signed between the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and 13 oil companies, among them Amoco, BP, Exxon, Mobil, Lukoil and Statoil.

+ As Western oil companies are able to tap deepwater oilfields untouched by the Soviet exploitation, Azerbaijan is considered one of the most important spots in the world for oil exploration and development.

+ The State Oil Fund was established as an extra-budgetary fund to ensure the macroeconomic stability, transparency in the management of oil revenue, and the safeguarding of resources for future generations.

+ Azerbaijan, the Central Asian country of nine million people, gained its independence in 1991 following the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Press Releases
+ SOCAR and AURORA to Partner in Fujairah Terminal, SOCAR, 19 May 2010.

+ Aurora Web Site Statement.

Azerbaijan Tourism Video



Geoff Pound

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