Группа "Сумма" может ввести в эксплуатацию нефтяной терминал в порту Роттердама ранее 2015 года

«Summa Group» may open its oil terminal in the Port of Rotterdam before the planned 2015 deadline, Luis Coimbra, Adviser to the group’s Chairman, said at the ArgusNeftetransport 2011 conference.

“Our plan has been to complete the terminal in 2015, but now we can confidently say that it will be ready before then,” he said.

He says the joint venture Shtandart is in constant discussions with the authorities in order to obtain all the necessary environmental permits and licenses.

On October 20 «Summa Group», which is controlled by businessman Ziyavudin Magomedov, signed a master agreement with the management company of the Port of Rotterdam to build and operate the Tank Terminal Europort West (TEW) oil terminal.

Its joint venture with the Dutch company VTTI Shtandart TT BV will invest up to $1 billion in the construction of around 3 million cubic meters of tank capacity for Urals oil and petroleum products. The new terminal will operate as an “open hub” creating a trading platform for Urals oil, Russia's main export.

The construction of the terminal will begin in 2013, after the necessary permits are obtained and the design work is completed. Oil will be delivered to Rotterdam mostly from the Port of Primorsk (owned by NCSP) using icebreaking shuttle tankers. The terminal will eventually be able to receive oil from other Baltic ports.

A banker familiar with the tender told Prime News Agency that more than 20 major international groups competed to build the oil terminal, including the U.S. company NuStar, the Hong Kong company BrightOil and the Dutch company Vopak.

“The tender included more than 20 companies, with NuStar, BrightOil, Vopak, N-Trans, «Summa» and others heading into the homestretch,” he said.

The owner of the analytical agency ArgusEdrianBinks said that the supply of Russian Urals oil to Europe could exceed 85 million metric tons per year after the launch next year of the BPS-2 pipeline. He says Western companies, which work mainly with North Sea oil, have no desire to see the Urals brand strengthened on the European market. However, the creation of a large oil terminal in Rotterdam for the Russian oil market will spur the development of non-tanker deliveries of Urals oil, which will increase liquidity and assist the development of derivatives trading.

Experts noted that the construction of the new terminal will increase oil traffic through Rotterdam by 50%. According to analysts, the creation of a physical site for free trade in Urals oil is the first step in the formation of independent exchange trading of Russian oil, as it will help create a foundation for a market in small transactions. And given the gradual reduction in production in the North Sea, Urals may eventually become a leading brand on the European oil market.