TUNISIA - The Logistics.

Tunisia has five oil terminals for loading and discharge on its Mediterranean coast. The largest is La Skhira, on the Gulf of Gabes, which has a big depot for the storage of oil products. An important part of Algeria's crude oil movements pass through La Skhira as it is the terminal for the Algerian

La Skhira has two loading berths on both sides of a jetty which can serve tankers of up to 120,000 dwt, with a maximum rate of loading and unloading of 10,000 tons per hour. In addition, there is a phosphoric acid plant at the terminal run by a Tunisian-Kuwaiti venture.

The terminal at the depleted offshore Ashtart field in the Gulf of Gabes has two deep-water berths and a crude oil loading capacity of 3,000 t/hour. The PC 1 loading unit consists of a 120,000 ton storage barge moored to a buoy serving tankers of up to 70,000 dwt. PC 2 is linked to an SBM serving tankers of up to 150,000 dwt. The port of Gabes has a terminal for crude, oil products and LPG serving tankers of up to 50,000 dwt. It has a quay for unloading caustic soda and fuels, and facilities for loading chemicals and fertilisers produced at a nearby plant. The port of Sfax has a terminal for oil products and LPG serving tankers of up to 50,000 dwt. The port of Bizerte, near Tunisia's refinery, has the country's fifth terminal.

There are a number of pipelines linking the oilfields to the terminals. Pipelines for distribution of gas to local users exceed 1,000 km. The grid has been revamped with a remote-control system and mostly converted to methane by Societa Italiana per il Gas (Italgas). The methane for the local market is supplied to users in industry and households from Tunis to Cap Bon, from Tunis to Bizerte, from Gabes to Sousse, from Gafsa to Kasserine, from Kasserine to cement plants at Tajerouine, from Hammamet to Nabeul where the users are mainly tourist resorts on the coast, and from Monastir to a power plant and factories at Sousse. A 237 km line taking methane from the offshore gas field Miskar runs from Gabes to Msaken. BG is developing Hasdrubal, a big field which could enable Tunisia to export gas (see gmt15TunisFieldApr10-06).