BRUSSELS, June 26, (KUNA): The President of the Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI), Hussein Ismail, has said that KPI is committed to consolidate its presence in the European market.
“We are a strong player in Europe and our commitment will continue to strengthen that presence,” Ismail told the Kuwait news agency, KUNA, in an interview.
Ismail was in Belgium to participate in the inaugural ceremony of a new tank farm of Kuwait Petroleum International Lubricants (KPIL) in the port city of Antwerp on Thursday evening.
The 24 new storage tanks on the site of its lubricant blending plant on the banks of river Scheldt in Antwerp is the biggest plant that KPI has in Europe.
“This is the biggst one we have. The reason we upgraded this tankage area is to show our commitment to health , safety and environment,” he said.
The KPI chief noted that the old tank farm was getting old and deteriorating in quality,” so we decided to invest more than 20 million euros to upgrade the plant by building 24 new storage tanks, as well as upgrading water treatment facilities and loading terminal as well”.
He continued that “ it shows our commitment to investment in Antwerp and in Belgium . It is very important and part of our strategy, KPC as well as KPI to maintain and strengthen many parts of our business in Europe.”

“We have been in Europe for more than 25 years now. We have developed a business that is robust, that is high quality and we have invested in it over the last 25 years to make it stronger,” stressed Ismail.
KPIL is a divison of KPI, the international marketing and refinery division of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC). KPIL operates commercially under the brand name Q8 Oils.
In Belgium, the KPIL has over 300 petrol stations in addition to petrol stations in Luxembourg and the Netherlands as well. KPIL headquarters is located in Antwerp.
Asked about the future of oil prices, Ismail replied that “nobody can predict exactly, but we are talking about a band between USD 70 to 80 a barrel for the foreseeable future. “
Investments
“ A band that would serve the consumers as well as producers to make investments to maintian our oil production, “ he added .
Giuliano Franzi, managing director of KPIL, told KUNA that the new tank farm in Antwerp is for storing base oil.
He explained that the crude oil goes to the refinery in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam and there the base oil is produced and shipped to Antwerp where the finished lubricants are produced which are used in cars and industries and in all sorts of engines.
The 24 new tanks have a storage capacity of 36 million litres and a production capacity of around 130 million liters per year.

Franzi said the Antwerp plant” is the most important plant for lubricant production in Europe. “ “From this plant we supply Denmark, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany, France, Spain. It is among the top fifteen plants in Europe,” he noted.
On his part Robert Voorhamme , deputy mayor of Antwerp, told KUNA that “we are living now in an economic crisis still. I think what the economy internationally wants is confidence and this kind of investment (brings) confidence in relations between Kuwait and Belgium.” “This is the first state-of-the-art distribution centre for lubricant products,” he pointed out.
“We are very happy (with) Kuwaiti investments and we are working very well together also. We are trying to integrate the Q8 plant in the development of the area, “ added Voorhamme.
The port of Antwerp , 50 km north of Brussels, has become one of Europe’s largest sea ports, ranking second behind Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
It is also home to the second largest petrochemical industrial complex in the world, only after Houston, Texas.

Also:
KUWAIT CITY: The price of the Kuwaiti barrel of oil rose by 52 cents on Friday’s dealings in comparison to those a day earlier, to $72.25 per barrel, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) announced on Saturday.
The sovereign debt crisis of European nations is still lurking over oil prices, a problem feared could threaten the economic recovery starting to be felt worldwide, therefore affecting oil demand.
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members have been stressing their intent to keep prices in the verge of $70-85 per barrel, regarding this level as fair to both producer and consumer.
Current prices are although better than levels attained during the last two years, when they drastically dropped to $32 in December 2008 after a $136 high in July of the same year.