Page 11 - DMEA Week 31 2021

DMEA TERMINALS & SHIPPING DMEA

Details emerge on planned

Jask storage expansion

MIDDLE EAST FOLLOWING the commissioning last month This will be increased in stages to reach 1mn bpd
of the Goreh-Jask Crude Oil Transfer Project, by March 2022.
Iran has provided further details about its plans
to expand oil storage capabilities at the new port Strategic storage
on the Sea of Oman. Jask’s location has long been touted by Tehran
In addition to the 350,000 barrel per day as a strategic game-changer. Aside from allow-
(bpd) export/import capacity provided by the ing it to ease reliance on Kharg Island terminal,
installation of the first single-point mooring through which around 90% of the country’s
(SPM), the Jask Oil Terminal (JOT) will also exports currently flow, it provides direct access
feature an initial 20 storage tanks with a total to the Indian Ocean without having to traverse
storage capacity of 10mn barrels of crude, con- the Strait of Hormuz, reducing shipping times
structed under a $230mn build-operate-transfer and avoiding one of the world’s busiest shipping
(BOT) contract. lanes.
Speaking to state media this week, the pro- Meanwhile, Iran has begun courting Indian
ject’s director, Abdollah Ahmadi, said this week interest in utilising storage capacity at Jask as part
that this will not be sufficient to meet growing of efforts to re-join global oil markets as hopes
demand, adding that it was inevitable that the grow about the potential for a new ‘nuclear deal’.
second and third phases would involve further In June, Iran’s ambassador to India, Ali Chegeni,
expansion with the addition of more tanks. suggested to New Delhi that it should store some
Downstream MEA (DMEA) understands of its strategic oil reserves at the Jask.
that 10mn barrels will be added in each phase “Having huge oil storage capacity available,
to reach a total storage capacity of 30mn barrels. with just a short direct sea journey away from
This will serve Iran’s ambitious plans to ramp India, means that it is time to realise construc-
up exports from the port, while permits have tion of the Iran-India oil and gas pipeline. India
already been issued for the construction of refin- also can use Jask port facilities to store its strate-
eries with a combined capacity of 900,000 bpd in gic crude oil reserve to meet emergency needs in
the surrounding Makran region. case of disruptions in supply,” he said.
Jask’s first SPM was made operational shortly Chegeni noted that the removal of sanctions
after construction of the pipeline was completed, could see India revive its plan to “invest $20bn
giving JOT a first-phase throughput capacity of in Chabahar Economic Free Zone (EFZ) for set-
350,000 bpd via two 36-inch (914-mm), 6-km ting up petrochemical and fertiliser plants either
pipelines that tie the loading facility to the shore independently or through joint ventures with
and a metering stations. Iranian public-private companies”.
It has been designed to handle exports India’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd
of heavy and light crude grades as well as (ISPRL) currently has deals in place with Iran’s
condensates. regional rivals Saudi Arabia and the UAE for
Two further SPMs with associated pipelines storing Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi National
and metering facilities will expand the port’s Oil Co. (ADNOC) crude in India. The company
export capacity to at least 1mn bpd. holds more than 39mn barrels of crude storage
JOT received feedstock via the 1,000- capacity in underground caverns at Mangalore
km Goreh-Jask pipeline, which was recently (11mn barrels), Visakhapatnam (9.75mn bar-
launched with an initial capacity of 300,000 bpd. rels) and Padur (18.3mn barrels).™

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