The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners on Friday approved a pact to study development for a new oil terminal.

The preliminary agreement between the Port of Long Beach and Vopak Terminals North America Inc. in Houston sets the terms for an environmental impact study of the project.

If approved, the company would develop a 28-acre site on Pier T as a deep-water terminal oil and crude oil and petroleum products including gasoline, the port said. It would be the first such terminal built at the Port of Long Beach complex since 1983.

The environmental review and construction of the terminal will take at least four years.

The Port would spend about $37 million on dredging and Vopak would spend $120 million on land-side improvements for the first phase of construction.

The announcement comes just a few months after Houston oil firm Plains All American Pipeline LP announced it was giving up on a long-planned oil terminal project at the neighboring Port of Los Angeles.

That project, had been in the works since 2003 and had received most permits needed to move forward, but Plains pulled the plug in November due to concerns over future demand for imported oil.