The Bioko Oil Terminal could become the largest oil and petroleum storage facility in West Africa following the signing of an agreement between the government of Equatorial Guinea and Arabian Energy
Both parties have agreed to collaborate on the development, implementation, construction and financing of the petroleum tank farm in Equatorial Guinea, following the signing in Saudi Arabia on 11 May. The project is worth US$500mn and is slated to include 22 storage tanks and a total capacity of 1.2mn cubic metres. It will be built in two phases, with the first consisting of creating the infrastructure for refined production, and the second for developing capacity for storage, handling and blending of products such as diesel, jet fuel, gasoline and naphtha. Shared terminal infrastructure is expected to be on a "first come, first served" basis. The aim is for the facility to be an African centre for the distribution of petroleum prodicts and crude oil, stimulate job creation in the region, reduce the reliance on oil imports and attract investment.
The Equatorial Guinean government is ambitious about the potential of the facility. "The Bioko Oil Terminal is a first-of-its-kind storage facility for West Africa and would bring to the region energy security and transport economies of scale and efficiencies like we have never seen before," said Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, Equatorial Guineas mines and hydrocarbons minister.
