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May 23 2006

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TMSA allots hydrocarbon terminal of Tangier-Med port to Arab consortium

By virtue of the concession convention, which binds the concessionary to TMSA for 25 years, the former is committed to start the exploitation of the terminal as of December 2008 and invest more than Euros 52 million, before the start-up of the terminal.

According to a TMSA official communiqué sent to MAP news agency, "the concession bears on the design, funding, implementation, exploitation and maintenance of the hydrocarbons terminal, including the equipment of a deep-water oil station and the development of a 12ha storage zone, accommodating a storage capacity of 308,000 m3".

"These installations will serve as a logistic platform aimed at providing the local market with refined products, as well as the refuelling (fuel supply) of the ships, both inside the port and in the Straits of Gibraltar," the official statement added.

The same source explained that "the concessionary will carry out the operations of handling, loading and unloading of petroleum products in respect of the obligations of public utility".

It will also "commit itself to reserve storage capacity of at least 20,000m3 for local distributors other than the shareholders of the concessionary and allow the owners of other oil terminals to connect themselves to the terminal with hydrocarbons for their provision".

"The contract of concession entrusts the operational management of the terminal with hydrocarbons to HTL, present at a total value of 34% in the capital of the concessionary company. HTL, a subsidiary company of the National Emirati Oil Comapany (ENOC), is a major actor in the management of independent oil terminals and the exploitation of installations of petroleum products and chemical storage".

"Present in the Far East, in the Middle-East and in East Africa, HTL also has great international experience in the construction and exploitation of terminals of liquid bulk (petroleum products, chemical and LPG) and totals a storage capacity of 3.2 million m3," went on the same source.

In addition to this operator, the concessionary company also consists of the companies Independant Petroleum Group (IPG) and Afriquia SMDC , whose respective participations are 32.5% and 33.5%.

Independent Petroleum Group (IPG) is a Kuwaiti company (quoted on the Kuwaiti Stock-Exchange) and was created in 1976. This group manages and exploits oil and chemical terminals, and operates in the logistics of the petroleum products (maritime transport, transport by pipelines).

Afriquia SMDC , subsidiary of the holding Moroccan Akwa Group, is the national leader in the distribution of the petroleum products, with a 30% share of the national market, a network of 400 service stations and a storage capacity in Morocco of 352,000m3.

"Through this concession TMSA aims to serve Tangier-Med's ships' customers and Northern Morocco with petroleum products under the best technical and commercial conditions. It hopes to conquer a share of a market in the refuelling activity in the Strait," explained the communiqué.

It added that "through this concession convention, the Tangier-Med port will contribute to the national strategy, particularly in diversifying the entrance points of refined petroleum products and shortening the distances between centres of storage and consumption of these products.

"The analysis and the evaluation of the aligned offers given on February 3 2006 led to the classification of the offer of the consortium HTL - Afriquia SMDC - IPG in the first rank."

The classification was elaborated on the basis of criteria provided by the regulation of the consultation, such as the commercial offer integrating the fixed and variable costs, the experience and the references of the tenderer, the conformity with the strategic objectives of TMSA and the quality of the technical dossier proposed, it concluded.

The MAD 12 billion Tangier-Med port project is of great proportions: a logistic free zone of 90 hectares; an industrial zone of 600 hectares (20 km away from the port), a commercial duty-free zone of 200 hectares (15 km away from the port) and tourism facilities in Fnideq.

The project aims to position the North of Morocco as a logistic platform for the European market with its hundreds of millions of consumers, based on the Free Trade Agreement with the European Union which came into force in 2000. This project will also develop the tourism industry and boost exports, by providing an efficient port for free zones and Moroccan economic centres.

TMSA, established on Sept. 10, 2002, is the project manager for the building and development of the port. It is also in charge of the development of the free zones. The Tangier-Med project is expected to complete before Dec. 31, 2006.

In addition to building the infrastructure for the special economic zone, TMSA is also responsible for operating it as safely and competitively as possible. It is also the intermediary between all private and public partners, including the Hassan II Fund, Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion (DDG), CMKD, the Abu Dhabi Fund, the North Agency, and the Ministry for Construction and Civil Engineering (Port Directorate).

By Morad Aziz