BP announced Thursday that it will put its 950,000 cubic meter-capacity oil terminal and storage facility in Amsterdam up for sale.
The Amsterdam terminal has been owned and operated by BP since 1997, and acts as an international trading hub for supplying diesel and gasoline to local and regional petrol stations and also fuel to and from Europe.
The terminal’s assets include more than seventy storage tanks for oil products and butane and propane; three jetties for ocean-going vessels and two jetties for mooring nine inland barges, and a loading rack for road tankers, according to the company's press release.
The terminal typically services around 2,900 ships and approximately 20,000 road tankers each year, occupying a total site area of some 890,000 square meters, the press release said.
Hendrik Muilerman, Managing Director of BP in the Netherlands said in the press release that the company will continue both its trading operations and retail fuels business activities in the region by utilizing third party facilities rather than operating its own.
According to the press release, BP will continue supplying its customers after the sale which is expected to take place near the end of 2015.
Many oil and gas companies readjusted their capital expenditures as the price of Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, has fallen more than 50 percent in the past few months to under $50 per barrel.
Low oil prices are reducing the profitability not only of upstream but also downstream operations even for energy giants which prefer to continue their businesses focusing on gaining high profits in the short term while curtailing high risk activities.
BP's interests and activities are covered in two business segments: upstream (exploration and production) and downstream (refining and marketing of fuels and lubricants).
In the Dutch market, BP has a presence with 350 retail sites and 2,000 people are primarily engaged in refining and marketing of fuels and lubricants.
By Muhsin Baris Tiryakioglu
Anadolu Agency
muhsin.tiryakioglu@aa.com.tr