Reliance acquiring oil storages in US: report

Reliance Industries is all set to acquire clean storages in the US as the world's largest oil refining company puts in place a global infrastructure to sell huge volumes of petroleum fuels produced at its Jamnagar refinery, media reports said today.

The company is looking for storages in the US wast Coast, the Gulf Coast and the West Coast, reports quoted a company official as saying. The reports did not, however, elaborate. Nor did it say when the acquisitions will be undertaken.

Industry analysts say the size of the storage could be around 200,000 cubic metres and the deal is likely to take place by end-March.

Reliance, which has recently started gasoline trading operations in the US, is expected to introduce own brand in the US at a later stage.

The company, which has its office in Texas, will trade gasoline both on the US Gulf Coast and New York Harbor market.

Reliance has now a network of storages, including a clean storage facility at Ashkelon terminal in Israel, a 100,000 cu m oil products storage in Singapore bought from Dutch oil and chemicals storage operator Royal Vopak NV, as also storages leased in the Caribbean.

Oil product exports from India is expected to be around 25 medium range cargoes of gas oil a month, after Reliance commissioned its 580,000 barrels per day (bpd) export-oriented refinery in Jamnagar, near its existing 660,000-bpd refinery, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Reliance would use the storages to market the huge volumes of oil products from its recently commissioned  refinery.