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The ATB oil terminal at the Port of Pelepas, Tanjung Bin, Malaysia, received its first cargo of fuel oil last week. The 100,000 deadweight tonne (dwt) tanker MT Kition discharged at ATB's VLCC berth on April 10th.

Commenting on the facility's first fuel oil delivery, Vitol said: "The receipt of the first fuel oil cargo from the MT Kition represents a significant milestone for the ATB oil terminal, offering new storage and logistics opportunities for petroleum products in the Singapore region at competitive rates."

The ATB oil terminal is owned and operated by VTTI, the 50/50 joint venture between Vitol and the Malaysian maritime conglomerate MISC.

The terminal is a grass-root project which began construction in September of 2009. The first phase consists of 41 oil storage tanks, totalling 841,000 cubic meters of storage for fuel oil, gasoline, and middle distillates. Phase I of the ATB oil terminal is designed to handle 20 million metric tonnes of oil products per annum, accommodating 5 seagoing tankers at once, and servicing its customers all year round.

Phase I of the terminal is already fully leased out to various clients, and ATB management is in the planning stages for phase II, with the ultimate goal of building 1.6 million cubic meters (cbm) of storage at the site, offering additional capacity for third parties by the third quarter of 2013.

According to Vitol, significant pre-investment has already been made in terms of land improvements and infrastructure to ensure that Phase II is ready within the shortest possible time.

Fuel oil can be loaded at the terminal at a rate of 7,500 cbm/hour, middle distillates at 7,000 cbm/hour and light ends at 5,500 cbm/hour. Up to 15 simultaneous operations can be performed, all controlled by an automated system and managed by the VTTI proprietary Terminal Management System. The jetty carries four 30-inch fuel oil pipelines and an additional six pipelines for clean products.

Work on the terminal's fuel oil tanks is complete, while work on the middle distillates and gasoline tanks, are nearing completion and will be available for commercial use later in April.

"Designed to comply with the highest industry and safety standards, whilst meeting the demanding storage requirements of oil traders, the terminal offers one of the highest levels of flexibility, product security, and load rates available in the commercial storage industry," Vitol said.