PetroChina has agreed to take a 35 percent stake in trading firm Hin Leong's new oil storage facility in Singapore, boosting its trading portfolio, industry sources said yesterday.

 

Hin Leong, Asia's most active independent oil trader, will hold 65 percent of the S$750 million (US$455 million) Universal Terminal, one of the world's largest run by independent players, they said.

 

"It's a done deal," said a source familiar with developments.

 

A PetroChina official confirmed a deal has been reached, but declined to give details on its size and value. Hin Leong declined to comment.

 

PetroChina, Asia's largest oil and gas firm, is increasingly expanding beyond Chinese borders to boost energy assets and this deal is its first investment in storage overseas, which will help it trade with greater flexibility, traders said.

 

"The company wants to portray itself as an international major. An investment like this is a natural part of that move, similar to how all the big majors such as BP and Shell operate," a Singapore trader said.

 

The Singapore facility has a capacity of 14.5 million barrels and is expected to be operational by the end of 2007, Hin Leong said at the ground-breaking ceremony of the terminal in western Singapore's Jurong Island.

 

PetroChina has in recent years boosted trading volumes, especially in refined products, raising shipments from countries such as Venezuela and signing up term supply deals with South Korea and Japan, both to supply China and raise the company's trading portfolio.

 

The deal would be a strategic one for Hin Leong, as PetroChina would be an ideal partner for the independent unlisted trader with long-term ambitions to get a foothold in the world's second-largest oil consumer market, one that is expected to open up to foreigners, traders said.

 

The Singapore terminal would be the first in Asia able to berth two very large crude carriers (VLCCs), which currently have to discharge their cargoes outside Singapore and offload onto smaller ships, incurring additional costs.

 

Shares in PetroChina, which have rallied almost 30 percent since mid-November, fell 1.97 percent to HK$7.45 (95.5 US cents) yesterday, underperforming the 0.77 percent drop in Hong Kong's Hang Seng index.

 

(China Daily February 14, 2006)