Muhammad Salik

Fauji Oil Terminal & Distribution Co. Ltd.

FOTCO, a joint venture of Fauji Foundation and Infraavest Ltd. of Hong Kong, owns and operates a state-of-the-art, environment friendly marine oil terminal at Port Qasim. Costing US $ 100 million, it was established in 1995 and has handled over 172 million tons of oil since inception. About 44% of the total equity in the project is from Infraavest, while 52% is from Fauji Foundation. FOTCO Terminal is an all-weather jetty capable of handling vessels of 25,000 to 75,000 DWT is at the point of submersion, although it may also denote the actual DWT of a ship not loaded to capacity). Three 16-inch dia Marine Loading Arms (MLA) are installed on the jetty through which furnace oil, crude oil and high speed diesel (HSD) are handled. The jetty is connected to the shore by a 4-km long trestle which is designed to accommodate six product pipelines. Presently only three pipelines, one for handling of HFO, one for handling of HSD, Crude & Mogas and other for handling of RLNG have been laid. The Terminal is capable of handling 9 million tons of oil per annum at the existing jetty, having a growth potential of more than 27 million tons with the addition of 3 more jetties, for which an area has already been earmarked. Plans are in hand to construct one more jetty for handling the increasing volumes of HFO and HSD being imported, and the crude oil for new refineries. FOTCO Terminal operations and maintenance are ISO certified and fully compliant with International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) regulations. FOTCO has been able to achieve a turn-around time of 19 hours, which is a record for such operations in Pakistan. It is the only terminal in the country equipped with the most modern Automated Jetty Monitoring System.