Oiltanking Ghent and Ineos Europe have signed a long-term agreement for the storage and handling of naphtha and gas condensate feedstock for the Swiss group's cracker at Cologne, Germany.

The Belgian company will dedicate some 15% of its total existing capacity to the partnership with Ineos. It will also make substantial investments in operating equipment, including facilities such as vapor return lines, internal floating roofs and vapor recovery units.

Feedstock will arrive at the Ghent terminal on seagoing vessels for intermediate storage. From there, it will be shipped by barges via the river Rhine to the Ineos in Cologne as needed.

Ineos said the storage and handling solution will enable it to optimize the process of breaking down hydrocarbon fractions to produce lighter alkenes (olefins) such as ethylene, propylene, thereby supplying the building blocks for plastics, including PET and PVC in addition to rubber.

For its production facilities in Scotland and Norway, Ineos is importing ethane feedstock derived from US shale gas. It is currently building its own import terminals in the two countries. The first commercial shipments were due to begin this month.