Shell JV starts building China oil product storage

A Shell joint venture in China has begun building an oil product storage facility with a capacity of 200,000 cubic meters (1.26 million barrels) in the northern port city of Tianjin, the official China news agency Xinhua said. Investment in the facility is 550 million yuan (US$86.4 million). The first phase of the Nangang storage terminal, with capacity of 55,000 cubic meters, will be completed in 2013, while the second phase will kick off in 2014 and will be completed in 2015, Xinhua said. The storage facility is expected to handle 3 million tons of oil products a year and generate annual sales revenues of 24 billion yuan (US$3.7 billion), the agency said. Shell North China Oil Group, a joint venture between Shell China and Tianjin State Farms Agribusiness Group, operated about 210 service stations in Tianjin and neighboring provinces by the end of 2011.