Fujairah is already among the world's top three bunkering hubs, alongside Singapore and Rotterdam. Saudi Aramco, the world's top oil producer, has leased one million barrels of petrol storage at the Vopak Horizon terminal, a joint venture between Dubai's Emirates National Oil Company and the Netherland’s Vopak.
Royal Dutch Shell is also in negotiations to lease one million barrels of crude storage, according to Bloomberg. If a deal were made, Shell would become the first foreign company to lease crude storage in the Arabian Gulf region since the industry was transformed by nationalisation in the 1970s.
"We keep on receiving requests for new projects," said Salem Khalil, a technical adviser to the Government of Fujairah. "Our indication from consumers interests' is that the demand is there and, to the best of the my knowledge, the utilisation of the existing projects - VTTI, Gulf Petrochem, Socar Aurora - is very busy."
The Habshan-Fujairah pipeline, completed last year, allows crude from Abu Dhabi's onshore fields to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that Iran has repeatedly threatened to close to cut off a fifth of global oil supply from consumers.
The pipeline has lead to the development of millions of cubic metres of oil products storage, expansions in power generation and plans to build a liquefied natural gas import terminal. With increased business will come a clear need to enlarge the port to accommodate the largest class of crude tankers.
The developments are made possible through either floating terminal or by expanding the emirate's limited space by reclaiming land, using material from its mountains.
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