Storage operator Horizon Terminals is investing nearly $300 million to expand its terminal in South Korea next month and to build a new facility in Morocco by early 2009, its chairman Saeed Khoory said.

The Horizon Terminals group, wholly owned by Emirates National Oil Co (Enoc), has already pumped $350 million into its Singapore facility -- which will open its third phase on Thursday -- and invested $400 million into its 1.2 million cubic metre terminal in Fujairah.

But due to the worsening global economic crisis, Horizon Terminals has delayed its plans to build a storage facility in Indonesia until fuel demand in the region recovers.

"We have identified a local partner in Indonesia and our plans are at an advanced stage. But we have put our plans on hold because of the impact of the financial crisis," Khoory, who is also Enoc's group chief executive, told Reuters in an interview.

Horizon Terminals is spending about $75 million to expand the second phase of its Horizon Taeyoung Korea Terminals in Ulsan, South Korea, which will open by end of next month.

It will also pump $150 million into building the first phase of its Horizon Tangier Terminals in Morocco, scheduled to start operations in the first quarter of next year, Khoory said. - Reuters