The 11,000 square metre parcel of land will have covered and open warehousing facilities, company says

Dubai's Tristar Group, an oil and gas sector-focused logistics company, acquired more than 11,000 square metres of land in Oman’s Duqm port as it expands its operations in the sultanate.

The parcel of land will have a 3,048-square metre covered warehouse with a capacity of 5,000 pallet position and an open yard that could be used for expansion, the company said on Tuesday, without specifying the value of the transaction. The logistics warehouse project will also have the facility to provide third and fourth-party logistics services, it added.

Tristar , which counts Kuwait's Agility and Gulf Investment Corporation among its shareholders, provides transportation and storage facilities to international and local oil companies, and operates across 20 countries within three continents.

“The expansion of our presence in Oman to Duqm further strengthens our value proposition as we continue to serve the future requirements of our international oil and gas customers as well as major local companies," said Eugene Mayne, group chief executive of Tristar. "We constantly seek to build partnerships through which we can expand our service offering to our customers across the GCC and beyond, and the Port of Duqm provides us with the perfect platform to do so.”

The company’s investment in Duqm comes on the heels of a recent opening of phase 2 of its Rusayl Industrial Estate, near Muscat International Airport. Spanning across 15,000 square metres, the plot consists of an office building and a warehouse with a capacity of 1,000 pallet position, a five-bay workshop with two inspection pits and a wash-down bay.

The Duqm port is emerging as one of the major logistics player in the region — partly assisted by major investments from China in recent years. Oman Wanfang, a consortium of Chinese companies, pledged to invest about $10.7 billion (Dh39.27bn) to develop the Duqm free zone in 2016. Groundbreaking at the site began a year later.

Duqm could prove to be crucial for the global shipping industry as it provides an alternate route to the Strait of Hormuz, an important oil shipping route. With US-Iran tensions on the rise and its proximity to the growth markets of Asia, Duqm port has seen increased investment interest. The US last year also signed a deal with Oman that would allow the country increased access to Duqm port and its infrastructure.