The UAE Logistics - Fujairah.

The port of Fujairah, on the Gulf of Oman just south of the Strait of Hormuz, in April 2006 overtook Rotterdam as the world's largest bunkering centre as it sold an average of 12m tons/year of heavy fuel oil. The port has been expanded with three jetties built for un-loading crude oil used by the expanding Fujairah Refinery Co. (see DT) and EPPCO. They handle tankers of 100,000 dwt. The port has a new berth with a 2,000 t/y shiploader and a 2-km conveyor belt for the export of aggregate, limestone and garbo rock being quarried in Fujairah.

Fujairah's offshore is said to have good prospects for oil and/or gas. The US company MATCO, exploring onshore and offshore, has made an offshore discovery. With seismic surveys shot by Baker Hughes and Western Geo-physical of the US, MATCO in late 2001 launched a further drilling programme to evaluate the discovery.

Vessels pass through Fujairah's waters at a rate of more than 50 per day. This is largely due to its strategic location on the Gulf of Oman, close to major crude oil export terminals in the region, and the fact that ships can anchor in deep water unlike the case in the Gulf. Fujairah has the second largest container terminal in the UAE. The number of containers passing through has risen from 475,000 in 1991 to more than 875,000.

Fujairah is the biggest centre for tankers shuttling to the Gulf to carry crude oils to countries across the globe. An average of almost 90 tankers/day pass through Hormuz, of which 45% anchor at Fujairah for fuel supplies.

The main player is Van Ommeren Tank Terminal Fujairah (Vopak ENOC) which began operations in January 1999. Dubai's ENOC and Van Ommeren Tank Terminals (VOTT) of the Netherlands each hold 30% in this. The state-owned Fujairah Investment Establishment has 20%. The remaining 20% are equally split between the Dutch oil trader Vitol Group and the Independent Petroleum Group (IPG) of Kuwait.

Vopak ENOC has a 679,000 cubic metres capacity to store gasoline, naphtha, condensate, jet fuel, gasoil, kerosine, methyl-tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), methanol and fuel oil.In August 2002 Vopak ENOC received an SPM calm buoy, which now handles vessels of up to 175,000 dwt. Expansion to 900,000 CM is a possibility, says ENOC CEO and Vopak ENOC Chairman Hussein Sultan. This will depend on the market, and part of the addition may be dedicated to chemicals and crude oil.

Vopak Horizon Fujairah is moving ahead with a fifth expansion of its onshore bunkering and oil products terminal in Fujairah. To be completed in the third quarter of 2007, this will add 360,000 cubic metres of additional storage capacity and two berths and take overall capacity at the site up to 1.5m cubic metres, six berths and SPM for vessels of up to 175,000 dwt. There will be will be eight tanks with capacities ranging between 30,000 and 60,000 cubic metres; a new berth for vessels of up to 110,000 dwt; a second berth for ships of up to 60,000 dwt; and four loading arms for white and black products. Two main contracts - covering onshore and offshore works - will be awarded, along with speciality packages such as mechanical and electrical. ENOC Engineering is the consultant.

Horizon Terminals Ltd. (HTL) is having a 1.4m barrel fuel storage terminal in the Saudi Red Sea port of Yanbu' for regional trades. HTL has trading outposts in east Africa, with facilities in Djibouti and one being developed in Mozambique, among several branches including one in Singapore.

The federal Emirates General Petroleum Corp. (Emarat), another storage player in Fujairah, has expanded with 10 additional tanks of 170,000 cubic metres.

Fujairah Oil Technology LLC (FOT), a 50-50 JV of state-owned Trans Gulf Petroleum Co. (TGP) and the US firm SulphCo, will apply the latter's high-powered ultrasound process to turn heavy/sour crude oils into lighter and sweeter grades. This will increase the crude's gravity and reduce sulphur, nitrogen and viscosity, producing more usable oil per barrel. A plant for this will be built in the emirate. The process is to be marketed elsewhere in the region.