Теперь FOB Роттердам
The Russian company Summa is planning to build an oil terminal in Rotterdam. The project is tentatively estimated to cost up to $1 billion and will allow large quantities of Russian oil to be sold directly to Europe. Summa’s Chairman, Ziyavudin Magomedov, and Hans Smits, the President of the Port of Rotterdam, signed an agreement for the project at the Kremlin on Oct. 20, in front of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte.
Shtandart TT B.V. will directly administer the project, a joint venture between Summa and the Dutch company VTTI. Summa owns 75% of Shtandart TT B.V.
Summa has extensive experience constructing and operating offshore loading terminals in Russia. It owns the Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port, which in turn owns an oil terminal in Primorsk, near St. Petersburg. And today Primorsk is responsible for the majority of Russian oil exports that are shipped by sea. In addition, the Stroinovatsiya construction company is part of the Summa Group, and last spring Stroinovatsiya purchased a 61% stake in OKZ Holding, which already has experience building terminals in Rotterdam.
VTTI is a major terminal operator, which is owned by two titans of the international oil trade: Vitol (a major oil-trading company based in Switzerland) and MISC Berhad (a Malaysian corporation that works with shipping and terminals and is under the control of the Petronas oil company).
The story with the Rotterdam terminal began in 2010, when the administration of the port announced an open tender for the right to build a new, 55-hectare terminal. Shtandart TT B.V. has won that tender. The project includes the construction of up to 3 billion cubic meters of tank capacity. The facility will be divided into two operational areas. The first zone, measuring 45 hectares, will contain the port infrastructure. With wharfs up to 20 meters deep, it will be able to accept ships with a deadweight of up to 300,000 tons. The second zone will be connected to the first by a 750-meter pipe and function as a warehouse. Construction on the Tank Terminal Europoort West will begin in 2013, and the Russian-Dutch facility will begin operating by 2015.
Summa is proposing that the new terminal operate as an open hub, thus creating a trading platform for Urals crude oil. Ice-class shuttle tankers will bring oil from the terminal in Primorsk to the trading platform in Europe. From there it will be shipped to various countries. After 2015, players in the market will be able to purchase Urals crude oil FOB in Rotterdam. Summa plans for its main source of income to come from providing services to this trading platform. Aleksandr Vinokurov, the First Vice President of Summa Group, announced, “We intend to recoup our investment in this project within five to seven years.”
The oil industry has already expressed a great deal of interest in the project. It will be more profitable for them to sell their oil FOB in Rotterdam than standard FOB in Novorossiysk or FOB in Primorsk.
© JSC «Gruppa Expert», 24.10.2011