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Socar Aurora Fujairah Terminal FZC(SAFT), the joint venture company between Socar, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic, Aurora Progress, the Swiss-based commodity trading house, and the Government of Fujairah have announced the start of construction of the second phase of the 645,000 cubic metre oil products terminal in Fujairah.

This phase adds 235,000 cubic metres to the tanks already in operation and has been funded with $61 million from Apicorp and National Bank of Fujairah. Apicorp is the lead bank providing in total $110 million of funding to construct both the second and third phases of the terminal.

Ammar Kutait, CEO of SAFT, commented, "We have now signed the construction contracts for the 10 tanks involved in Phase 2 of the terminal. Fujairah National Construction & Transportation (FNCT) is doing all the civil works on the site, Belleli Energy is constructing the tanks and pipelines and Consilium Middle East is providing all the electrical, instrumentation and fire fighting equipment. We are delighted to have concluded these agreements and reached financial close with our banks."

Socar Trading CFO and Board Member of SAFT, Zaur Gahramanov, said: "The first phase of the terminal has been completed as planned and received the first oil products into the tanks in March. This next phase will be fully operational by the fourth quarter of next year."

"The first two phases of the terminal are already fully let," added Ammar Kutait, "our priority now is to deliver the second phase again on time and within budget and, after the successful completion of Phase 1, we will again be employing MUC Oil & Gas to project manage the development of the second phase. With funding already secured with APICORP for Phase 3 we can progress discussions with interested parties on this remaining 295,000 cubic metres of tankage. We will be tendering shortly for the construction contracts and will be seeking expressions of interest from potential contractors."

Socar Aurora Fujairah Terminal

The terminal consists of 645,000m3 of storage across 22 tanks and can handle fuel oils, gasolines, naphthas and middle distillates (diesel, gasoil & jet kerosene) and will be equipped with both tank-to-tank and in-line blending facilities. SOCAR AURORA is an independent terminal operator offering storage capacity to third parties. The Port of Fujairah is providing a new multi-berth facility for the receipt and loading of oil tankers. The terminal is being constructed in 3 phases -- Phase 1 of 115,000 cubic metres, already in service, Phase 2 of 235,000 cubic metres now under construction and Phase 3 of 295,000 cubic metres comprising 7 tanks of 39,250 cubic metres and one of 20,350 cubic metres will be tendered shortly and will be completed during 2014.

Socar

The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic, incorporated in 1992, is responsible for managing all oil and gas assets and activities for the Republic of Azerbaijan. SOCAR holds a direct stake in the Azerbaijan International Operating Company, which operates the giant ACG oil fields in the Caspian Sea, as well as in the 1 million barrel-per-day BTC crude export pipeline between Baku and the port of Ceyhan in Turkey. In addition, SOCAR is responsible for marketing all State volumes on the part of the Azerbaijan State Oil Fund SOFAZ, and holds participations in a range of other onshore and offshore fields and projects in Azerbaijan including its large new gas fields like Shah Deniz and Absheron. SOCAR also operates two refineries near Baku and has started its international expansion in recent years with mid- and downstream investments in Georgia and Turkey, and the establishment of its international trading and development arm Socar Trading in Switzerland.

Aurora Progress S.A.

Aurora Progress S.A. is a privately owned Swiss based company with the trade, supply, transport and storage of refined petroleum products as its core activities. The Group's roots go back to 1978 when Petrotex S.A. was first established. After acquiring Petrotex S.A and its subsidiaries, Aurora Progress continued to expand becoming a global trading company. Today the Group is active in the trading & supplying of petroleum products, supplying bunkers in ports around the world and through Aurora Aviation S.A. is a provider of aviation services to commercial airlines, cargo fleets and private jets. Aurora Aviation recently announced an MOU with Fujairah International Airport for Aurora to become the Fixed Base Operator at the airport.

MUC Oil & Gas Engineering Consultancy FZE

MUC Oil & Gas Engineering Consultancy FZE, Fujairah is an Engineering Consultancy Firm specialised in providing Consultancy Services in Engineering, Project Management and Safety & Environmental Engineering for the Oil & Gas and allied industries. MUCOG' s Engineering expertise span all relevant Engineering fields including Process, Mechanical, Piping & Pipeline, Electrical, Instrumentation and Civil/Structural Engineering. MUCOG's services span the whole project life-cycle including amongst others Conceptual/Feasibility Studies, FEED, Detailed Engineering, Tender Administration, HAZOP studies, Environmental Impact Assessment and Project Management right from the commencement of the construction until the commissioning of the Project.