ENOC secures $100m financing for new bulk liquid petroleum terminal
Horizon Terminals Ltd (HTL), the wholly-owned subsidiary of Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) focused on terminalling operations, has signed a 10-year Islamic term financing facility of $100m with Standard Chartered Bank, Emirates NBD and Noor Islamic Bank, AMEinfo reports.
The term partly finances the construction of a second 60 km jet fuel pipeline from the new bulk liquid petroleum terminal in the Jebel Ali Free Zone to the Dubai International Airport, and its associated storage tank farm with 141,000 cubic metres of capacity. The transaction has a dual tranche of USD and AED.
"The new bulk liquid petroleum terminal in Jebel Ali is set to energise Dubai's fast-growing aviation sector and is of strategic importance to Dubai's economic diversification initiatives," said Saeed Abdullah Khoory, ENOC's Chief Executive Officer. "The Government is focused on further strengthening the city as the region's tourism and business hub, in which the aviation sector has a key role to play in.
"The financing agreement is a strong testament to the local and international banking sector's confidence in the project's business model and strong cash flow potential. This new terminal will support the growing needs of Dubai International Airport, the Al Maktoum International Airport and Dubai's increasing energy needs as it moves towards further economic growth."
ENOC has an existing pipeline linked to the Dubai International Airport. With jet fuel requirements expected to increase significantly in the near future, ENOC is building supporting state-of-the-art infrastructure to meet the growing demand through the new $142m terminal. A second pipeline is expected to be commissioned in the second half of 2013 and will also have a connectivity provision to the Al Maktoum International Airport in Jebel Ali.
ENOC is the single largest supplier of jet fuel at the Dubai International Airport, fuelling various passenger and cargo airlines operating out of Dubai. The company has the capability to supply more than 70 airports in the Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions.
Most of the jet fuel is sourced from ENOC's refinery in Jebel Ali, which is operating at its full capacity of 120,000 bbls/day. The company is in the process of undertaking a refinery debottlenecking project which will increase its refining capacity to 140,000 bbls/day.
The groundbreaking ceremony of the new bulk liquid petroleum terminal was held recently, with the fully automated terminal scheduled for commissioning in the fourth quarter of 2013. It will have state-of-the-art facilities for receiving jet fuel from marine tankers and from the adjacent ENOC-owned refinery. The terminal will also have tanker truck loading facilities connected to oil tanker berths and associated abilities to ensure seamless supply lines to other airports in the UAE.
Horizon Terminals Limited manages more than 5 million CBM of storage with a network of nine terminals located in various markets, including the UAE, Singapore, South Korea, Djibouti and Morocco. It provides world-class terminal services for bulk liquids storage as well as a range of value-added logistics services. It aims to become the largest independent terminal service provider in the bulk oil storage in the Middle East, Africa and the Mediterranean while maintaining a leading position in the Far East region.