OQ acquires Exolum’s stake in OQ Logistics Company

Muscat: Represented by the Refineries and Petroleum Industries sector, OQ has acquired the 40 per cent stake of Spanish company Exolum in OQ Logistics firm.

Through this acquisition, OQ Refineries and Petroleum Industries now holds 100 per cent shareholding in OQ Logistics.

This is considered a significant step forward in the integration of the logistics infrastructure and regularisation of the business framework, which contributes to the growth of the petroleum industries’ logistic services sector.

OQ Refineries and Petroleum industries (formerly Orpic) signed an agreement to establish OQ Logistics in 2014, in partnership with the Spanish Company Logistica De Hidrocarburos CLH holding a 40 per cent stake to build and operate a pipeline to transport multiple oil products in both directions linking the two OQ refineries in Muscat and Sohar other and linking them to a major storage facility in Al Jifnain area.

OQ Logistics owns Al Jifnain terminals in the Governorate of Muscat, which is the largest terminal for storing and distributing refined petroleum products in Oman, with a storage capacity of 170,000 cubic metres of oil derivatives, along with pipelines connecting Muscat - Sohar, MAF to Jifnain and Jifnain to Muscat Airport to transport refined petroleum fuel products.

Hilal Al Kharusi, Chief Executive of Commercial & Downstream commented, “We would like to take this opportunity to thank our partner Exolum for their contribution in jointly developing OQ Logistics and we are confident of Exolum’s future growth and prospects. OQ intends to integrate its portfolio of refined petroleum business while also developing a strategic fuel reserve on behalf of the government to ensure continuous and sustainable delivery to the customers. With this acquisition, OQ now works to meet its strategic objective to consolidate and integrate OQ Logistics with other OQ logistics assets, creating a larger platform for logistics infrastructure business in Oman followed by establishing a contractual and commercial framework to then monetize the consolidated entity through an initial public offering (IPO). This would create an opportunity for a logistic infrastructure asset in Oman listing in Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX).”

Jorge Lanza, Chief Executive officer of Exolum said, "It has been an honour for Exolum to participate in this project, which was also our first foray into international markets. This joint venture with OQ opened the door to new business opportunities outside Spain and, partly thanks to it; Exolum is now present in the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Panama, Ecuador and Peru. From the outset, we were confident that this project would be innovative, contributing significantly to the country's prosperity, and that it would bring significant improvements to the petroleum products industry thanks to the experience and extensive track record of our almost 100-year-old company.”