Asia/Pacific News
Brightoil Gets Approval for Chinese Terminal
Brightoil Petroleum (Holdings) Limited [HKG:0933] (Brightoil) says Zhoushan Brightoil Terminal Co. Ltd. has received government approval to build a terminal and oil storage facilities at China's Ningbo-Zhoushan Port on Waidiao Island.
The terminal will include four berths, capable of accommodating 300,000 deadweight tonnes (dwt), 100,000 dwt, 50,000 dwt, and 20,000 dwt, respectively.
"Leveraging its strategic geographic location, the project will generate stable rental income for the Group and will enable synergies with the Group's International Trading and Bunkering business and Marine Transportation business for better economies of scale," said group Chairman and CEO Kwong Lam.
"It will also contribute significantly to the Group's operational performance on the whole by enhancing the quality and efficiency of its bunkering and crude trading business and will play an active role in the development of a national strategic oil reserve."
Brightoil announced in June that it had hired China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau to build the 1.94 million cubic meter storage facility on Waidiao Island, and it said construction of the storage and transshipment base is now "in full progress."
The full Zhoushan storage and transshipment facility, to be completed in two phases, will have a total capacity of 3.16 million cubic meters in oil tanks and 14 berths, and will cost about $1 billion.
Phase one, with an estimated capacity of 1.94 million cubic meters is scheduled to begin commercial operation around the end of 2014, and Phase 2, with an estimated 1.22 million cubic meter capacity, is projected to start operations around the first half of 2015.
