Fuel infrastructure startup plans $750M in trio of terminals across Florida

St. Petersburg-based transportation infrastructure and distribution firm Belvedere Terminals has announced a $750 million investment in developing multiple fuel terminals in Florida for storage and supply. 

A press release didn't provide details as to the source of the funding or any financing, or a timeline on the projects. 

Belvedere Terminals, according to a statement, is a “new company working to support state leaders who are focused on improving Florida’s fuel supply chain and ensure gasoline is accessible during hurricane season, when Florida has faced gas supply shortages in the past due to port closures.”

Belvedere officials say their first three initial sites in Florida are planned for Jacksonville, Ormond Beach and Fort Pierce, and then another seven locations will be developed in the state over the next five years. The sites in Jacksonville, Ormond Beach and Fort Pierce, the release states, are currently in the early stages of planning and development. Belvedere officials are working with community leaders in those areas. 

Because Florida has no in-state production of oil and gas or its own gas pipeline, the state is largely dependent on the long-distance trucking of fuel that is first delivered to Florida ports by ships that travel over environmentally sensitive estuaries and waterways. 

Belvedere Terminals, say officials, aims to meet the growing need for fuel in the state by providing refined petroleum products to multi-location retailers. These products will move from refineries in the Gulf region, up interstate pipelines to Belvedere’s hub facility in Collins, Mississippi. From there, fuel products will be delivered by trains with state-of-the-art safety standards, over existing railways to the various Belvedere Terminals storage locations throughout Florida, officials say. 

“This will improve Florida’s fuel supply chain by making the state less reliant on port deliveries of fuel which are subject to significant disruption during times of severe weather, including hurricanes,” the release states.

“As a sixth generation Floridians myself, we are beyond excited to begin working to develop Belvedere Terminal’s locations in Florida and bring more than $750 million in capital investment with more than 200 jobs to the state,” Belvedere Terminals President Edwin Cothron says in the statement. “Our Belvedere Terminals system will use state-of-the-art railcars and sites that will set new industry standards for operational safety. This new system for fuel delivery will help lower gas prices for consumers and offer a safer and more dependable method for getting fuel into the state that is not subject to port shutdowns when a hurricane forms.”