Patrik Petersson, Stena Oil’s vice president for business development, said the Swedish company’s new facility, which is expected to be operational after the summer, “will support a robust bunker market in northern Denmark”.
Stena Oil has plans to develop a marine fuel terminal in the Danish Port of Frederikshavn. The 74,400 cbm facility, which will be able to handle all grades of marine fuel – as well as slops and sludge – will be the largest of its kind in Denmark.
The project had been scheduled for completion in 2020 but the advent of COVID-19 pushed this date back, and the fuel terminal will now be commissioned after the summer.
Petersson said the facility’s start-up will be timely: “While the combination of the IMO 2020 regulation and the pandemic has put pressure on global bunker companies in some regions, Skaw/Gothenburg region, in contrast, has witnessed growth. Among the key factors affecting this is close proximity to low sulphur fuel refining capacity.”
He added: “We are in a unique position where you have a narrow waterway and we have plenty of barges and infrastructure to support demand.”
With the construction of the new Frederikshavn terminal, Stena Oil is seeking to capitalise on a further strategic advantage.
“For us it makes sense to have a storage terminal which is half an hour off the bunkering position in Frederikshavn,” said Petersson. Without the terminal, Stena Oil must ship out product from its 93,000 cbm-capacity Gothenburg storage terminal to the Danish bunkering hub, which at the moment takes around six hours to reach from the terminal in Gothenburg.
“Frederikshavn is doing a really big port expansion and is investing a lot of money there to bring in new services like recycling of oil rigs and ships of the future. The whole maritime market there is really growing,” added Petersson.
For more information visit www.stenaoil.com
