Petrochina plans Dubai move

Petrochina’s rapidly expanding international trading network will soon include the Middle East when it sets up an energy trading desk in the regional financial and commodities trading hub of Dubai, industry sources said. PetroChina is also studying the option of either acquiring or building an oil terminal facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), sources said. “They have approached us to discuss the economic feasibility of developing a terminal in the UAE,” a trader based in the Middle East said. The Chinese energy giant was also expected to set up a three-man crude trading desk this year in Dubai, which is fast becoming a regional oil and commodities trading hub rivaling the likes of New York, London and Singapore, sources said. (January 26, 2010)