We are delighted to announce the launch of the new Downstream website

Downstream are delighted to announce the launch of their new website on 19 th December 2008.

This has been a particularly busy year for Downstream that has not only seen the merger of Tankterminal.net with Tankbank.info but has also seen the creation of PortStorage Group B.V.

As always, Downstream are committed to providing the storage industry with an unparalleled level of service and consultancy.

We hope that you enjoy browsing our new website and would like to take this opportunity to wish all our customers a peaceful festive season and a very prosperous New Year.

Kozmino oil terminal 1st stage to be completed late 2009-official

Building of the first stage of the special sea oil terminal in the Kozmino Bay near Nakhodka will be completed in late 2009, the port is designed for the transhipment of 15 million tonnes of oil annually, port’s Director General Lev Panchenko said on Friday.
The bay bottom is currently being deepened in Kozmino for receiving tankers with the capacity of 150,000 to 300,000 tonnes. Foundations for the petroleum base’s 10 reservoirs with the capacity of 50,000 cubic metres each are being prepared now. The construction of a 23-kilometre pipeline linking the railway tank car loading and receiving rack with the port has been started, said Panchenko.

The Rosneft company is also planning to build in Nakhodka a petrochemical plant that will annually process 20 million tonnes of oil, and the construction of a helium producing plant has already been launched, Nakhodka mayor Oleg Kolyadin said.

The presentation of the project was held for Japanese Ambassador to Russia Saito Yasuo who decided to familiarise himself with the construction of the end facility of the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) oil pipeline system. The ambassador was very impressed by the Kosmino bay facility. He noted that he has seen with his “own eyes the grand scale of the project and reality of its implementation.”

Nakhodka, where it is planned to establish an assembly plant of the Hitachi excavators is for Japanese one of the most known cities of Russia. Nakhodka has three sister cities in Japan – Maizuru, Otaru and Tsuruga.

The Eastern Siberia – Pacific Ocean oil pipeline (ESPO) is a 4,700 kilometres (2,900 mi) long pipeline system to export Russian crude oil to the Asia-Pacific markets (Japan, China, Korea). The pipeline is being laid by the route of Taishet-Kazachinskoe-Skovorodino-Perevoznaya–Kozmino. From Skovorodino the branch pipeline would extend to Daqing, China.

Because of protests of environmental organizations, the pipeline route was moved 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of Lake Baikal. The pipeline will be operated by Russian pipeline company Transneft.

The capacity of the first stage of 1,220 millimetres (48 in) diameter pipeline will be 80 millions tonnes of crude oil per year. The pipeline will consist of 32 pumping stations, including 13 with tank farms with the total capacity of 2.67 million cubic metres. The capacity of the link to China will be 30 millions tonnes of crude oil per year.

For feeding pumping stations with electricity, a 35 MW power station will be build near the town of Olyokminsk in the Sakha Republic. It will be fired by the crude oil from the ESPO pipeline. The power station will be designed for independent operation in demanding arctic temperature conditions. The terminal at Kozmino will have a tank farm with capacity of 350,000 cubic meters. The loading capacity of the terminal will be 300,000 barrels per day.

The construction of 2,757 km (1,713 mi) long first stage of the pipeline started in April 2006. This first section will run from Taishet in Irkutsk Oblast to Skovorodino in Amur Oblast. From Skorovodino, an extension will be built to China. The first stage consists also construction of an export terminal in Primorsky Krai. The pipeline is being built by Systema SpetsStroi, Krasnodarstroitransgaz, Vostok Stroi, Promstroi, Amerco Int. and IP Set Spb.

On 22 November 2007, Transneft announced the first phase pipeline was 41% complete instead of a projected 60%, while pumping stations were 24% ready instead of 56%. The first stage of the pipeline with the total cost of US$12.27 billion and the export terminal with cost of US$1.74 billion are planned to be completed in the third quarter of 2009.

Construction of the 2,100 km (1,300 mi) long second stage from Skovorodino to the Pacific Ocean would start after launch of the first stage. It could be commissioned between 2015-2017. The pipeline will be supplied from the oil fields of Tomsk Oblast and the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area in Western Siberia along the existing Omsk-Irkutsk pipeline that will join the new project in Taishet, as well as oil provinces of Eastern Siberia. At the initial stage 22 million tonnes of oil will be supplied by Rosneft and 8 million tonnes by Surgutneftegaz, ITAR-TASS reports.

Busan plans new oil terminal

Construction of a new fuel oil terminal in South Korea's main bunkering port is scheduled to start in early 2010, a major development aimed at boosting sales for the country's marine fuel market.

Since 2006, the Busan Port Authority (BPA) has been planning to build the oil terminal in Busan New Port. Busan commands about 50% of the country's bunker sales volume.
When operational, the 60,000-cubic-metre (m³) new terminal would allow an international fuel oil trader and an independent tank operator to supply marine fuel into the South Korean bunker market.

''An operator of the terminal is yet to be decided and BPA will select a private operator in the second half of next year,'' a BPA spokeswoman told Bunkerworld. By securing imports of fuel oil from an international trader or tank operator, the facility would help to offset the ''danger of decreasing residual oil from (local) refineries in South Korea,'' the BPA had said.

South Korean refiners have been releasing less residual fuel into the country's marine fuel market as they upgrade their plants to produce larger volumes of distillates.

Compared to residual fuels, the higher-quality distillate products are more lucrative exports for the country's five refiners – GS Caltex Corporation, Hyundai Oilbank Corporation, Inchon Oil Refinery, SK Corporation and S-Oil Corporation.

Traditionally, marine fuel sold to foreign vessels in South Korea are sourced exclusively from the local refiners.

In 2007, Busan port was estimated to have moved about 5.5 million metric tonnes (mt) of bunkers, while sales for South Korea were approximately 10 million mt.
A groundbreaking ceremony for the project is planned at the end of 2009, according to BPA.

The project is currently undergoing an environment assessment study before embarking on the design of the terminal, the BPA spokeswoman said.

Construction of 4 Oil Tanks in Kharg Island

TEHRAN (PIN) – Construction work of 4 planned one-million-barrel storage tanks in Kharg Island is expected to begin by next month, an oil official said.

Managing director of Iranian Oil Terminals Company Mousa Souri told PIN, construction of the tanks will enable the country to raise its storage capacity by 50 percent.
"Storing more oil, National Iranian Oil Company will have more opportunity to sell it at a good price," he added.

He also cited that at present the oil storage volume of the country is less than 10mm tons storing in 5 tankers, adding that the volume is at its lowest rate in recent years.

Manager of National Iranian Oil Company for international affairs Ali-Asghar Arshi had also told PIN that all Iranian crudes held in floating storage were sold at a higher price and at present time there is no oil in the storages to be sold, an oil official said
He added the stockpiles built up as refiners reduced their crude oil needs during seasonal maintenance work.

Launching a-million-barrel oil tanker in Khrg Island last week, the storage capacity of the country rose to 20.2mm barrels.