Annual Review 2017
enoc.com-
Yusr Sultan Al Junaidy
Managing Director, Horizon Terminals
The entire industry faces issues such as the downturn within the oil sector, and offshore storage becoming more competitive due to spare shipping capacity.
Horizon is adopting policies and practices that mitigate negative effects – focusing on cost efficiencies, boosting employee competence, and increasing automation. -
Staying ahead of rapid changes in the market environment is vital to sustained success in the terminals business. The entire industry faces issues such as the downturn in the oil sector, and offshore storage becoming more competitive due to spare shipping capacity.
These challenges are not exclusive to ENOC and its subsidiary company, Horizon Terminals, but they do prompt a strategic response by individual companies. The quality and resilience of that response will be a key differentiator in their long-term performance.
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Horizon is adopting policies and practices that mitigate negative effects – focusing on cost efficiencies, boosting employee competence, and increasing automation. The business view is long-term – and new projects are not ruled out – but the intervention of private equity investment has stifled acquisitions as a medium for growth, driving up prices because of stable cash flow and attractive returns.
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This has boosted the viability of expanding existing projects, greenfield projects, and diversifying into new business lines. Apart from restructuring its asset portfolio, Horizon believes that two other measures taken will prove their worth: adopting a fully-fledged integrated and comprehensive operational excellence management system; and diversifying into the storage of new products, primarily in the LNG segment.
Horizon is also working on its own floating solutions, such as floating storage re-gasification units that act as receiving terminals for LNG, re-gasify on board, and then feed it into the gas network.
Terminals in the UAE and Saudi Arabia are now joined by similar facilities in Singapore, Djibouti, and Morocco. Horizon has also strengthened its position in the UAE through further investments in Dubai and Fujairah.
Horizon is already the largest independent terminal service provider for bulk oil storage in the Middle East. The company aims to further expand its presence in Africa and the Mediterranean, while maintaining its significant position in the Far East.
Recent developments
As part of ENOC’s 2017 portfolio restructuring and alignment of strategy at the global and local levels, Horizon was able to sell Horizon Korea Terminals at a competitive price. EPPCO Distribution (ED) was transferred to Horizon from the Group’s retail arm – the objective being to streamline the end-to-end fuel supply chain, improving efficiencies, and providing a safe and reliable logistics solution for ENOC.
Horizon also continued to explore expansion opportunities, in line with the Group’s strategic goals. Towards the end of 2017, the Al Maktoum International Airport pipeline project was approved, enabling ENOC to support the new airport’s jet fuel requirements.
Horizon has also approved further investment in the existing terminal in Saudi Arabia (ArabTank terminal), to provide tankage solutions to new customers through long-term binding contracts.
In 2018, Horizon will continue to leverage operational excellence, business development and EHS initiatives. This will enable the company to identify new expansion opportunities and explore diversification into ancillary lines of business such as storing and regasification of LNG, in line with ENOC’s strategic objectives.
UAE terminals
Horizon has petroleum and chemical storage facilities across the UAE. The subsidiaries in Fujairah have 23 tanks and total petroleum capacity of 463,000 m3. An independent chemical terminal in Jebel Ali caters to the largest range of bulk liquid chemical products handled in the region, both for inland consumption and re-exports. The facility has 59 tanks with total capacity of 54,400 m3.
EPPCO International, a joint venture between Horizon and Chevron, caters for domestic fuels (gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, asphalt, and aviation fuel) for Dubai and the Northern Emirates, bunkering, re-exports, and strategic defence storage. Based in Jebel Ali, EPPCO International’s 55 tanks provide a total capacity of 936,700 m3.
Another prominent venture is Vopak Horizon Fujairah, situated just outside the Strait of Hormuz. One-third owned by Horizon, the facility has deep-water berths and single-point mooring capable of handling shipments for breakbulk, consolidation, blending, and strategic storage. It serves the world’s second-largest fuel oil bunker market and has pipeline connectivity to the local refinery, neighbouring terminal, and local power plant.
With capacity of more than 2.6 million m3 in 73 tanks, the Vopak Horizon facility is accessible by land or sea and handles a range of products, including crude oil and refined petroleum products.
Horizon’s Jebel Ali petroleum terminal comprises 141,000 m3 of Jet A1 tankage capacity and a 60 km pipeline connecting Jebel Ali to Dubai International Airport. Designed at 900 m3 per hour pumping capacity, the pipeline ensures adequate jet fuel supply to Dubai International Airport and supports ENOC’s aviation business requirements. The commissioning of this project has cemented Horizon’s position as the leading bulk terminals entity in the Middle East, and provided strategic support to the Government of Dubai.
International
Flagship subsidiary Horizon Singapore Terminals is situated on Jurong Island, the petrochemical hub of Singapore and the world’s top bunkering port by volume. The terminal, of which Horizon owns 52 percent, caters to the storage, handling and blending requirements of national oil companies, oil majors, traders and bunkering companies. It is designed for multi-berth discharge and loading operations to maximise throughput. The facility has 59 tanks with total capacity of more than 1.25 million m3.
Horizon has a 36.5 percent interest in Arabtank Terminals in Yanbu. It is Saudi Arabia’s first independent storage facility and has been granted ‘bonded storage’ status. Located on the Suez Canal route, this 288,100 m3 capacity terminal with 26 tanks handles import, export, and consolidation and trans-shipment cargoes. Handling both petroleum and chemical products, the facility meets the needs of Yanbu’s nearby refineries, NGL plant, petrochemical facilities and industrial complexes.
Horizon owns 40 percent of Horizon Djibouti Terminals, which has 31 tanks offering total capacity of 399,300 m3. The facility has dedicated jetties and large tank capacities to meet breakbulk and consolidation of cargoes, arbitrage storage, and strategic storage, as well as serving inland road deliveries.
Horizon also owns a 34 percent stake in Horizon Tangier Terminals in Morocco, based at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. It has 19 tanks and total capacity of 532,900 m3, along with other supporting infrastructure.