NSW: New import facility secures long-term fuel supplies
Tue Aug 25 02:21:26 EST 2009
Mon Aug 24 16:21:26 UTC 2009
SYDNEY, Aug 24 AAP - A new $40 million petrol and diesel import facility in NSW will secure the Hunter region's fuel needs for years to come, energy giant BP says.
The firm's latest infrastructure development at the Port of Newcastle was unveiled on Monday by federal Minister for Resources and Energy Martin Ferguson.
It will allow BP to take liquid fuels directly from ships docking at Newcastle and transport it to its terminal 40 km away in Carrington.
The infrastructure upgrade also involves an extra 40 million litres of storage capacity.
"When BP opened the Newcastle Terminal in 1955 we established the means to supply fuel that was essential to helping the region establish itself as an industry hub," BP Australasia president Gerry Hueston said in a statement.
"Now more than 50 years later, the sustained growth of the Hunter economy and its matching growth in energy consumption demands not only growing supplies of fuel but more secure supplies."
Speaking after the release of a new government commissioned report into Australian fuel infrastructure, which concludes there will be spare capacity over the next two years, Mr Ferguson said consumers should benefit from BP's upgrade.
"This is good news for Australian fuel consumers, meaning better access for imported petroleum products, therefore maintaining market competition into the future," he said in a statement.
