Vopak Horizon Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates has launched its seventh phase of expansion, known as the Black Pearl project, which will bring the company’s storage capacity to 2.6 million cubic metres.

Vopak Horizon Fujairah is the leading storage and handling provider for petroleum products in the emirates, and is a joint venture between Royal Vopak, Horizon Terminals Ltd., which is fully owned by Emirates National Oil Co. (ENOC), the Government of Fujairah and Kuwait’s Independent Petroleum Group.

This expansion will allow for the storage of crude oil, with the addition of five tanks totaling a capacity of nearly 480,000 cubic metres. As part of the project, the Port of Fujairah will also construct a jetty capable of handling fully loaded very large crude carriers (VLCCs). Completion for all this is expected by summer 2016.

Saeed Abdullah Khoory, chief executive officer of ENOC, commented, “With Fujairah’s status rising in the oil trade, our new storage expansion will be of great economic value to our partners and we look forward to giving them world-­class service and support.”