Capacity to rise at Russian port

Capacity to rise at Russian terminal

Petersburg Oil Terminal (PNT) in Russia's leading oil-product exporting port St. Petersburg plans to spend up to $200 million on modernizing it facilities in a bid to expand annual loading capacity by a quarter.

PNT spokesman Kirill Kotin told reporters on Friday that the port is now operating near its full annual capacity of 12 million metric tonnes (mt), and aims to boost capacity to 15 million mt. Plans for the next two years include constructing a rail unloading area, upgrading existing facilities and training personnel, he said.

Kotin, cited by Bloomberg, also said management may consider exporting gasoline and kerosene after the upgrade is complete. An unnamed port official told Reuters last week that PNT could be ready to start gasoline and kerosene exports in two years, and that "fuel oil volumes will decline" as shipments of light products increase.

2008 oil product exports from PNT are expected to reach 11 million mt, including around 500,000 mt of fuel oil, much of it used as ships' bunkers. In 2007, the St. Petersburg terminal transshipped 11,500 mt of oil products, 8.4% more than in 2006. With 2007 exports of light oil largely unchanged from 2006 at 3,400 mt, the overall rise in exports was led by a 12.5% increase in transshipment of dark oil products to 8,100 mt. Around 40% of oil products shipped via PNT is said to come from the Kirishi refinery.

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