Work is to begin next month on the upgrading of a section of the Ħas Saptan oil storage facility so that it can be used for the storage of fuel currently kept in the March 31facility in the heart of Birzebbuġa.
The Energy Ministry recalled that the government had promised to close the Birzebbuġa facility to remove danger and improve air quality.
Permits for the works at Ħas Saptan (near Gudja/Ghaxaq) were issued in June and contracts have since been awarded.
Most of the fuel at Ħas Saptan will be stored underground.
The extensive Ħas Saptan oil storage tanks were built by Nato at the height of the cold war and eventually reverted to the Maltese government when the British base closed down. Ironically, in 1981, the government rented a large section of the facility to the then Soviet Union and allowed it to refuel up to 200 merchants ships per year.