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MEOG Pro J e C ts & Com Panies MEOG

UAE storage operator Brooge enjoys

23% hike in revenues in 2019

Uae UAE-BASED storage operator Brooge Energy participants scrambling to find storage space for
earned $44mn in revenue in 2019, it reported unsold supplies.
last week, up 23% year on year. its gross profit for Fujairah’s facilities reportedly reached full
the year came in at $34mn, up 31%. capacity at the start of April. The port is consid-
The company, which operates oil and oil ered a prime location for oil storage, as it is situ-
product storage capacity in the UAE’S Fujairah ated just outside the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow
hub, attributed the growth to a multi-year agree- waterway that carries around 17-18mn bpd of
ment with an offtake customer at its Phase 1 ter- Middle Eastern crude to markets that iran has
minals. This meant that the terminal worked at repeatedly threatened to block.
full capacity throughout the year. “The disruption to oil markets caused by
Commenting on the results, CEO Nicolaas COViD-19 showed the high strategic value of
Paardenkooper noted that Brooge had secured having well-located storage assets, and we are
a multi-year contract for 100% of its Phase 2 pleased that our Phase 1 facilities remain fully
storage facilities with the same customer. These operational at this time, having experienced
facilities are due to start up in the second half of limited impact from the COViD-19 pandemic,”
2020 and generate “significant” revenues, he said. Paardenkooper said.
“The launch of our Phase 2 operations will Brooge recently hired a company to carry out
also expand our storage capabilities to now a front-end engineering design (FEED) study for
include crude oil, as well as adding more capacity Phase 3 facilities. it is also in “advanced negotia-
for fuel oil and clean products,” Paardenkooper tions” with its customer for this capacity.
said. “Once Phase 3 is complete, which is antici-
Brooge aims to have eight new oil storage pated to be in late 2022, we will have storage
tanks in Fujairah up and running by the end of capacity for approximately 4.5mn cubic metres,”
the year, with a combined capacity of 3.8mn bar- the CEO said.
rels of crude and refined products. Brooge is also drawing up plans for a 25,000
The coronavirus (COViD-19) pandemic bpd low-sulphur fuel oil refinery in Fujairah. The
and the resulting slump in fuel prices left market port is a major bunkering spot.™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 27 08•July•2020