Southernpec leases floating storage to Sinopec

Southern Petrochemical Co. (Southernpec) has leased half of its floating storage vessel in Malaysia to Sinopec (Hong Kong) Ltd., according to news reports. The 284,000-metric-ton vessel at southern Malaysia’s Tanjung Pelapas port will be used to store fuel oil meant for the Chinese market. The fuel oil can also be blended to meet bunker fuel specifications for sale to Singapore, the world’s largest bunkering port by volume, traders said. Southernpec bought the Very Large Crude Carrier Nan Fang III earlier this year and it has been in Malaysia for over a month. The companies are part of a growing group of trading houses, including Noble Group and Turkey’s Opet, which started fuel oil desks in Singapore this year. Sinopec HK is a subsidiary of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. and operates gasoline stations and oil terminals in Hong Kong. (July 28, 2009)