---

Vitol Tank Terminals International (VTTI) is due to begin construction work on its 340,000-cubic metre (cbm) oil import and distribution terminal in Vasiliko, Cyprus next month.

In a statement VTTI, which is jointly owned by the Dutch Vitol Group and the Malaysian shipping company MISC Bhd, confirmed that it would break ground on Monday 17th January 2011.

The new facility will be a storage terminal for fuel oil, gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, and will be 100 percent owned, funded and operated by VTTI.

VTTI agreed to develop the terminal with Cyprus-based building contractor Joannou and Paraskevaides (J&P), Nejst. The facility is set for completion in 2012 and is expected to cost more than €100 million.

In a statement, VTTI CEO Rob Nijst said: "Establishing Cyprus as a major regional trading hub for the import and export of oil products, we are also confident that the expanded facility – after phase 2 – will provide more than sufficient capacity to cover the needs of Cyprus and bring competitive supplies of energy to its customers.”

In addition to storage tanks, a jetty will be constructed to handle seagoing vessels. Oil products will arrive at the new terminal from the international oil markets and current plans for the terminal are focused on re-exporting to regional markets, as well as supplying the inland market in Cyprus.

In October VTTI announced that it also intends to expand the Vasiliko terminal by a further 210,000 cbm in order to bring the facility's total capacity to around 550,000 cubic meters.

The announcement followed comments made in the same month by Cypriot Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Antonis Paschalides, who said that the government plans to construct its own fuel-storage facility, also at Vasiliko.

VTTI has a network of 11 terminals in five continents, including a major new terminal in Florida, USA, which opened in April 2010. In Europe, VTTI has major terminals in Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Antwerp and Ventspils, Latvia.