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Oiltanking Odfjell Terminals & Co LLC has held an official opening ceremony to celebrate the launch of its new independent tank terminal located in the Port of Sohar, Oman Observer reports.

In total, the state-of-the-art facility will be able to store and handle 836,200 cubic metres of petroleum products and chemicals. By mid-2009 a remaining 6,300 cubic metres of spherical tanks will be completed, raising the total storage capacity to 842,500 cubic metres.

The tank terminal has multiple pipeline connections to the local 116,000 bpd refinery and is strategicaly located in the vicinity of major international shipping lanes just outside the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf of Oman.

Oiltanking Odfjell Terminals & Co LLC is a joint venture between Oiltanking Odfjell Oman BV (70 per cent), Oman Oil Company SAOC (OOC) (25 per cent) and a private investment company (5 per cent). In November 2004, Oiltanking Odfjell signed a contract for the operation of liquid berthing facilities and the development of an independent bulk liquids storage terminal at the Sohar Industrial Port.

Oiltanking, a subsidiary of Germany’s Marquard & Bahls AG, is the world's second largest independent storage provider of petroleum products, chemicals and gases. The company owns and operates 65 terminals in 21 countries in Europe, Middle-East, North and South America and Asia and has an overall capacity of over 14.5 million cubic metres.

OOC is wholly owned by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman. The company was established in 1996 to provide the government with a vehicle to diversify the country's economy and help generate Omani and foreign private sector investment.

OOC's is reportedly involved in over 30 projects covering areas of exploration and production of petroleum, infrastructure projects, petrochemicals, transport, refining projects, oil marketing and mining.

The launch of the new bulk storage terminal in Sohar follows a positive period for transshipment operations at the port's Oman International Container Terminal (OICT).

Last year, Sohar Port’s Oman International Container Terminal (OICT) revealed that the number of vessels calling for transshipment operations had increased, partly due to the considerable savings in bunkers costs it claims can be achieved.

Faced with congestion at other ports in the region, an increasing number of shipping lines were said to be evaluating Sohar's suitability as an alternative for their transshipment business.

Speaking in September 2008, Chief Executive Officer, Lawrence Teo said “We are seeing transshipment volumes grow as shipping lines see the benefits of transshipping out of Sohar. By calling at Sohar, which is well outside the Arabian Gulf, a vessel saves two days of sailing time into the Upper Gulf, and a similar amount of time for the return leg. Besides saving on expensive charter rates as a result, there are also considerable savings in bunker fuel costs, which are presently at an all-time high."