Caltex Australia has signed a 25-year deal to be the foundation customer for a new fuel storage facility being built in Adelaide, capital of the state of South Australia, the company said in a statement Friday.
The new A$80 million ($86 million) facility is being built by Terminals Pty. Ltd. at Adelaide's Outer Harbor. The company is currently awaiting formal approvals for stage one of the terminal, which will hold unleaded gasoline grades 91 RON, 95 RON and 98 RON, as well as diesel, biodiesel and ethanol.
Caltex National Manager Distribution Mike Raleigh said construction of the terminal was due to begin later this year, subject to regulatory approvals, with completion scheduled for 2013. The facility will initially have storage capacity of 85 million liters, with plans to eventually expand it to 135 million liters.
Caltex's current fuel storage capacity of almost 30 million liters at the Birkenhead terminal in Adelaide is limited by tank space and congestion at the existing Inner Harbor berth due to occupancy levels rapidly approaching their upper limits. "These capacity constraints have been a major factor in a number of fuel shortages affecting Adelaide and the state of South Australia over the past few years," Raleigh said.
Caltex National Manager Lubricants & Direct Sales Phil Amos said the expansion of fuel storage capacity would benefit the state's rapidly expanding mining industry, which needs increased volumes of diesel as it continues a rapid expansion over the next decade.
"Caltex has seen a continued growth in its national marketing business, driven in part by increased sales of transport fuels which grew to 15.1 billion liters in 2010, Amos added. "Our increased commitment to fuel supply infrastructure in Adelaide follows an expansion in our storage capacity in Western Australia and Queensland where we are servicing the rapid growth in the mining sector."
Mobil Oil Australia last month announced plans to boost its storage capacity at the Birkenhead terminal through the addition of a new 9 million liter diesel tank. In April, BP said it would spend A$20 million adding two 30 million liter storage tanks at its Largs North fuel terminal in Adelaide, taking the facility from 75 million to 105 million liters by late 2012.
