China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) granted the approval for the construction of the storage and terminal project, which would serve as a key supporting project for Brightoil's storage and transhipment base in Zhoushan.
The NDRC granted approval to build berths amounting to 1,395 metres in the terminal project. With a designed annual capacity of 32.9m tonnes, the project will be equipped with four berths to accommodate vessels of 300,000 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 Sit Kwong Lam, chairman and ceo of Brightoil.
“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,” he added.
The total investment for the storage and transhipment based has reached approximately $1bn, and construction will be completed in two phases. Commercial operation is projected to start around the first half of 2015.
