Monday, November 10, 2014

Japan Expands, Extends Oil Storage Lease Contract With Abu Dhabi

Japan expanded and extended for three years a lease that allows Abu Dhabi to store crude oil in the Asian country.

Abu Dhabi’s leased capacity at the Kiire terminal in Kagoshima prefecture, in southwestern Japan, will rise to 1 million kiloliters (6.3 million barrels), Atsushi Taketani, director of the Japanese trade ministry’s petroleum refining and reserve division, said in an interview.

The storage project was started at about 600,000 kiloliters in 2009, according to the ministry. Japan last year agreed to extend a similar contract with Saudi Arabia that lets the kingdom store crude in tanks in Okinawa.

In exchange for providing capacity to two of its biggest oil suppliers, Japan has priority for buying the stored crude in the event of an emergency, according to the ministry.

Vice Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yosuke Takagi and Hamad Al Hurr Al Suwaidi, a member of the Supreme Petroleum Council, signed a memorandum of understanding to extend the lease on Nov. 9 in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, Taketani said.

Imports from Saudi Arabia, Japan’s biggest crude supplier, accounted for about 32 percent of the Asian nation’s total purchases in 2013, according to data from the finance ministry. About 23 percent came from the U.A.E., the data show.

bloomberg.com

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