Gothenburg Port's Second Oil Storage Cavern Commissioned

A new underground cavern is being brought into operation at the Port of Gothenburg. The cavern is 600,000 cubic metres in size and will be used for interim storage of crude oil. The operator will be the independent storage company Scandinavian Tank Storage.

Located immediately beside the Port of Gothenburg is an underground storage facility. Gothenburg Port Authority has two caverns at its disposal, each 600,000-800,000 cubic metres in size.

One of them was opened for crude oil storage in 2009. The second is about to be brought into operation. An agreement has been signed with Scandinavian Tank Storage, which will operate both caverns.

"Our strategic location between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea is generating a demand for storage of crude oil. With a further cavern we will be in a position to reinforce our role as the primary energy port in the Nordic region," said Jill Söderwall, Vice President and head of commercial operations at the Energy Port in Gothenburg.

Close to a deepwater harbour
The caverns are located at the Tor Harbour, one of three energy harbours in Gothenburg. This is also the deepest point at the port – 20.5 metres.

"We can receive tankers that are unable to enter the Baltic, which makes us an ideal transshipment hub for crude oil. Following interim storage, the oil can be shipped out from here onto the world market," said Jill Söderwall.

The first vessel carrying crude oil for the new cavern is due to arrive approximately one year from now.