Oiltanking Antwerp Gas Terminal inaugurates the largest butane storage tank in Europe
Oiltanking Antwerp Gas Terminal N.V. (OTAGT) successfully commissioned a fully refrigerated, double containment tank of 135,000 cbm, thereby doubling its storage capacity. The tank is designed to store butane on behalf of INEOS and marks a first step in the terminal's expansion plans. A second fully refrigerated tank with similar storage dimensions is currently under construction at OTAGT.
With a diameter of 87 meters and a height of 59 meters, the tank does not go unnoticed when visiting the left bank of the port of Antwerp. The order of magnitude of the project becomes apparent when taking note of some facts and figures. The tank structure contains approximately 43,600 cbm of concrete - delivered by 5,400 trucks - and 9,750 tons of steel. After 950,000 contractor working hours, 3,600 toolbox meetings and over 2,600 safety walks, the tank was ready to put into service.
Douglas van der Wiel, Senior Vice President EMEA, comments: "By completing this project, Oiltanking reiterates its capability as a world class service provider for gas logistics. The Oiltanking brand represents quality backed by highly experienced and skilled people, working together as a team. This project had its challenges along the way, but the project team managed to progress the construction in accordance with all applicable standards and more importantly in a safe way. We would obviously like to thank INEOS for its continued trust in our company as well as our employees, our main contractor TGE, and all other stakeholders involved for the hard work put in enabling us to reach this milestone."
OTAGT herewith reaffirms its position as leading gas storage hub within the ARA region (Antwerp-Rotterdam-Amsterdam). Oiltanking GmbH acquired OTAGT in 2016 in light of its strategy to further expand its chemicals and gas assets portfolio. Apart from being located in the petrochemical heart of Europe, the terminal is heavily integrated with the surrounding industry and connected to all major pipeline networks.
Oiltanking Antwerp Gas Terminal NV, a fully-owned subsidiary of Oiltanking GmbH, is located in the port of Antwerp and is one of the largest independent terminals in Europe for storage, throughput and distribution of LPGís and petrochemical gases.
Oiltanking GmbH is a subsidiary of Marquard & Bahls, a Hamburg-based company that operates in the fields of supply, trading and logistics of energy & chemicals. Oiltanking is one of the largest independent tank storage providers for petroleum products, gases and chemicals worldwide. The company owns and operates 64 terminals in 24 countries in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific including China and India. Oiltanking has an overall storage capacity of 20.2 million cbm.
