Gas station fuel to race through Port Manatee
PORT MANATEE -- By fall, petroleum distributor TransMontaigne will begin using Manatee County as a gasoline supply hub for area RaceTrac gas stations.
An agreement signed by the two companies last September makes RaceTrac subsidiary Metroplex Energy the exclusive gasoline, diesel and ethanol fuel storage customer at TransMontaigne's Port Manatee, Port Everglades South and Cape Canaveral terminals.
Port personnel announced this week that TransMontaigne will expand its Port Manatee fuel storage tank farm to accommodate the RaceTrac fuel.
At Port Manatee, the Denver-based TransMontaigne is expected to invest about $7 million in new storage tanks and other facilities to accommodate the throughput of RaceTrac auto fuels, according to Port Executive Director Carlos Buqueras. The company has operated a storage tank farm at the port since 1971. It operates 16 tanks, according to Port Manatee's official directory. The tanks are used to store diesel and bunker fuel, two fuels used extensively in the maritime industry. The company also has a laboratory onsite.
Buqueras said he expects to see construction of new tanks underway by summer. The work, he said, will create a number of jobs. Once in operation, the expanded TransMontaigne facility will bring more traffic and revenue to the port, though he was not specific about the increases.
Karl Bernard, TransMontaigne's Florida terminal director, was unable when contacted to provide information about the RaceTrac deal or its impact on Port Manatee.
Last year, TransMontaigne shipped 432,848 barrels of fuel through the port. Ships coming into port fuel up on what the company stores onsite.
The port earned almost $367,000 from TransMon
taigne operations last year, and from the operations of the fuel bunkering company that moved fuel between tanks and ships until last May. TransMontaigne also paid about $139,000 in rent to the port.
TransMontaigne has begun the permitting process at the state level. In December, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection announced its intent to issue a permit to the company that would allow it to build a new, 8,000-gallon storage tank and modify three existing fuel storage tanks.
Karen Stewart, Manatee County economic development program manager, said she is also prepared to help the fuel tank expansion project get started. She told members of the Manatee County Port Authority that she will provide TransMontaigne with "rapid response" permitting assistance. Doing so can shorten the timeline to get any permits necessary to begin construction.
Matt M. Johnson, Herald business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7027, or on Twitter @MattAtBradenton.
This story was originally published February 20, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Gas station fuel to race through Port Manatee ."