Port Taranaki’s refurbished storage and distribution fuel terminal will see fewer tankers on the district’s roads now that diesel is flowing.
More than 100 million litres of fuel is expected to pass through the facility annually with petrol set to be on-stream in early 2018.
Port Taranaki bought the facility in 2015 and entered into an operational agreement with BP New Zealand.
Credit: porttaranaki.co.nz
It allows for larger quantities of petrol and diesel to be shipped in, stored and distributed throughout the region in an effort to reduce the costs and the number of road tankers coming into the area.
“The facility needed extensive refurbishment ahead of lessee BP taking responsibility for its operation,” Port Taranaki chief executive Guy Roper says.
The work started in August 2016 and includes a new truck-loading gantry, control system, tank-gauging systems and the replacement of pumps and valves.
The pipeline to the port’s Newton King tanker terminal and a loading arm on the terminal are also back in use to support the project.
Roper says the purchase and development of the site was an opportunity to “develop long-term commercial opportunities” for the port.
“It will have the twin benefits of fuelling Taranaki’s businesses, farms and communities, and reducing the number of fuel trucks on our roads, with large amounts of fuel coming into the region by ship rather than by road tanker,” he says.
BP marketing supply general manager Courtney Ireland says terminals are an “extremely important part of BP’s strategy”.
“BP is pleased and proud to be in a partnership with Port Taranaki that allows us to support ongoing growth in the Taranaki region,” he says.
