MUSCAT: Oman is committed to building, and paying for, a huge facility to store up to 200 million barrels of crude oil at Duqm on the Arabian Sea, an oil and gas official said yesterday.
State-run Oman Oil Company (OOC) would fund the expected billion-dollar project to build what would be by far the world’s largest tank farm, OOC Chairman Nasser Al Jashmi said.
“We are committed to build it and it will cost $1bn. We already have assurances from regional countries that they will use it,” Nasser Al Jashmi, who is also the undersecretary of the ministry of oil and gas, said.
Iranian threats to block the Strait of Hormuz over the last few years have spurred the United Arab Emirates to open a bypass pipeline to the Gulf of Oman, while Saudi Arabia has increased its capacity to export oil from Red Sea Ports.
Oman hopes there is still demand from Gulf oil producers for added insurance against potential disruptions to pay to use its storage facility at the south east coast town of Duqm.
Reuters
