WILLEMSTAD - According to the Director of the state-owned company Refineria di Korsou, Curaçao Refinery (RdK), Marcelino de Lannoy, they will invest in the storage capacity of Bullen Bay. This will take place in the coming six weeks and will cost 5 million guilders. After this investment oil tankers can be unloaded.
At the moment, oil prices are low and there is a shortage of storage capacity. This offers advantages. It is advantageous for investors to buy and store oil and then sell or refine it when prices rise.
"There is a great need for storage capacity worldwide and we can also benefit from this," says De Lannoy. “We take advantage of the opportunity to trade by offering storage. In this way we also take the opportunity of the executory attachment that we have placed on Bonaire Petroleum Corporation (Bopec). Due to the great need, this storage capacity can now be auctioned advantageously.”
De Lannoy explains that the investment is necessary because Bullen Bay is in poor condition.
“PdVSA has not used Bullen Bay for more than two years. From the capacity of 37 tanks and 15 million barrels, there is now only a storage capacity of 6 million barrels available. Now, however, we cannot directly use this capacity because we do not comply with the fire safety regulations. There must also be an oil spill emergency response plan. This requires certain material, which is now in poor condition. Everything around the tanks, the instruments and the alarm systems must also be in order.”
De Lannoy explained that there must be lightning rods. Now, after an initial inspection, work is being done on specifications and plans to renovate Bullen Bay as soon as possible. This also includes refurbishing the loading arms, which transfer the oil from the ship to a pipeline. At Bullen Bay there are six jetties (jetties), three of which are required for the storage plans. The jetties are in good condition, says De Lannoy.