Greece’s Aegean Marine Petroleum Network wants to award the $100m contract to build a major new fuel storage facility at Fujairah by the end of June.

The company plans to award the contract by the end of June as long as it is approved by Aegean’s president

Sources close to the project

The company tendered the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract, to build storage facilities with a capacity of 430,000 cubic metres of fuel and oil products, in late 2009. Contractors say that they have been through a series of discussions with Aegean, which started in December and ended in May.

The company plans to award the contract by the end of June, as long as it is approved by Aegean’s president, Peter Georgiopoulos, sources with knowledge of the scheme tell MEED.

As many as 12 international engineering contractors bid on the project, but only five remain in the running. They include Italy’s Belleli, Topaz Energy & Marine and Quality International Company, both local.

Aegean originally planned to tender the construction of the project in two phases, each of around 200,000 cubic metres, but decided it would be more cost-effective to tender both parts together.

Fujairah has become an increasingly popular destination as a ‘bunkering’ port where cargo ships can refuel and restock in recent years, and a number of international fuel bunkering and trading firms are planning projects in the emirate.