Oiltanking North America has agreed to sell its Joliet terminal in Channahon, Illinois, USA, to Omega Partners Illinois, a subsidiary of terminal operator Omega Partners III.

Financial terms of the deal, which is scheduled to complete in the third quarter of 2020, subject to the usual conditions, were not disclosed.

Located some 80 kilometers southwest of Chicago, the Joliet terminal has a capacity of about 44,600m³ and is primarily dedicated to the storage of specialty chemicals. The facility has connections for rail, tank truck and barge transport.

“We are pleased to hand over the terminal to a strong US player with proven experience in terminal operations and who recognizes the capabilities and potential of this facility,” said Jerry Hardman, Oiltanking’s vice president, business development Americas.

Oiltanking bought the terminal in 2009 and decided to sell it because of its location and scale in the context of the group’s overall network. The company added that it is continuously evaluating and optimizing its global terminal portfolio as part of its Strategy 2025, announced in September 2019 in response to changing market conditions in energy markets. The strategy consists of three directives: maximizing the value of current assets, achieving profitable growth and providing the necessary enablers.

Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, Omega Partners III owns and operates bulk liquid petroleum terminals in the states of Illinois, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Nevada and Kentucky, serving customers in the oil, distribution, trading, chemical and agriculture industries.

Last month, Oiltanking announced it had joined the “Power to Methanol” project, which aims to produce methanol from captured CO₂. The storage company joins Inovyn, Indaver, Engie, Fluxys, the Flemish Environmental Holding Company (Vlaamse Milieu Holding) and Port of Antwerp.

The consortium aims to build an 8,000 t/y demonstration plant at Inovyn’s site in Lillo, Belgium. Construction is scheduled to start by 2022