Asia/Pacific News
Sinopec Delaying $850-million Storage Terminal in Indonesia
Slow demand for tank space is being cited as the reason for China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, or Sinopec Corp. (Sinopec), delaying its $850 million storage terminal in Indonesia, Reuters reports.
The 2.6 million cubic metre facility in Indonesia's Batam free trade zone south of Singapore was intended to be Southeast Asia's largest and developed by Sinopec Kantons Holdings, a subsidiary of Sinopec, and a local Indonesian company that has a five percent stake in the project.
The project was intended to help Sinopec's trading opportunities in Singapore, Asia's oil trading hub.
Industry sources say the terminal, which was to have become operational by mid-2016, will not be ready for the next three to five years and that many new storage facilities in Malaysia are not yet filled.
"There's not enough demand in the region right now; it's about the timing to the market," they said.
The sources also speculated that the terminal, which would have stored 1.9 million cubic metres of crude and fuel oil, may be redesigned to focus equally on crude and oil products.
Earlier this year, Sinopec announced a joint venture with BP for the creation of BP Sinopec Marine Fuels Pte Ltd., which will provide bunkering operations and sell bunkers in key global locations.
