(EnergyAsia, August 27 2012, Monday) — Shell Australia said it has opened two new tanks with the capacity to hold a combined 38 million litres of diesel at its Mackay Terminal in Queensland state. The tanks will provide extra capacity and supply security to Shell customers in the Bowen Basin and northern Queensland.

The company’s facilities manager, Paul Benjamin, said:

Shell’s investment in the Mackay tanks is the largest investment in its terminal network in Australia for many years. Each holding 19 million litres of diesel, the tanks are the largest in the Shell Australia network.”

Mackay’s Mayor Deirdre Comerford, who launched the tanks, said:

“Mackay is developing at a fast rate. Existing mines in the nearby Bowen Basin are being expanded, new mines are under construction and our rail and port facilities are all expanding which require diesel fuel. The new tanks have been built in Mackay to support our development and help our region continue to grow and prosper.”

Earlier this year, Shell reopened its Miles depot in the heart of the Surat Basin to increase diesel supply to the mining industry.

The company said it will be building new diesel tanks in Newcastle, Kalgoorlie and King Bay, and biodiesel tanks at the Newport terminal in Victoria state.