CYPRUS: Oil companies expect higher cost from moving to Vasiliko

Moving the oil companies’s storage facilities from the Larnaca seafront to the Vasilikio area will entail additional costs, representatives of the companies told the House Energy Committee, which convened in the presence of Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis. The companies did not exclude the possibility of a hike in fuel prices.

The Minister briefed the committee on the process of removing the petroleum facilities, pointing out that the state itself has moved its reserves, achieving even more reduced costs.
Speaking before the committee, the representatives of the oil companies said that there are technical difficulties in moving the facilities to Vasiliko, arguing that there will be increased costs that must be passed on to the consumer. The cost of moving, they stressed, should not be a deterrent.
However, the Minister noted that the prices the government has offered to companies for rent of land is quite favourable and that the property held by the companies along the Larnaca seafront will gain value. He added that if everyone shows goodwill, they will be able to maintain their costs at today’s levels.
The Minister also said that by the end of the month a report by experts on the effective control of fuel imports, the costs of companies and other related issues is expected to be concluded.
Moving the installations of oil companies to Vasiliko area should be concluded by the end of January 2017.
According to the Minister, everything seems to be on track, apart from some technical difficulties which will be overcome.
A Representative of the Department of Town Planning said that the planning process regarding the development of the area following the removal of the facilities has already begun and a presentation at the Larnaca municipal council is scheduled for October 12.