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Adnoc suspends project to expand underground storage facility

12 June 2025

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has suspended a project to expand its Al-Mandous underground crude oil storage project in the emirate of Fujairah.

Al-Mandous is the world’s largest underground oil storage facility, with a capacity of 42 million barrels of crude oil. The facility consists of three underground storage caverns, each with a capacity of 14 million barrels, deep below ground level.

Adnoc awarded a $1.2bn contract to South Korea’s SK Engineering & Construction in February 2019 to execute the first phase engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works on the Al-Mandous underground oil storage complex project.

As part of the planned expansion phase, Adnoc intended to add 25 million barrels of crude oil storage capacity to the facility, according to sources.

The Abu Dhabi energy giant issued an expression of interest (EoI) document for the Al-Mandous second phase project on 18 April last year, MEED previously reported. Invited contractors submitted responses to the EoI document by 10 May 2024.

Adnoc, at the time, said it intended to issue the tender for the main EPC works on the Al-Mandous second phase project in the first quarter of 2025.

However, the state energy enterprise did not issue a tender for the project this year. In a notification sent to contractors that had expressed interest in participating in the project on 10 June, Adnoc said it was suspending the project until further notice, sources told MEED.

The aim of the Al-Mandous second phase project was to build underground storage units in mined rock caverns in Fujairah that could store different crude grades. The planned project also consisted of associated facilities such as utilities units, substations, a seepage water treatment plant, import and export facilities, and tie-ins to the Adnoc main oil terminal and the existing Al-Mandous storage complex.

The front-end engineering and design (feed) works on the project were being jointly carried out by Adnoc Onshore – an Adnoc Group subsidiary – and Geostock, a France-based storage facility consultancy firm, MEED reported.

Geostock was previously also appointed by Adnoc Onshore to perform feed works on the first phase of the Al-Mandous project, as well as on another underground crude storage project at the Jebel Dhanna terminal in Abu Dhabi.

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Indrajit Sen

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