Due to aging facilities, Tsing Yi oil terminal would be revamped before being delivered to Chimbusco end 2012, the sources told C1.
ExxonMobil’s fuel oil business in Hong Kong mainly involved storage and trading, with Tsing Yi oil terminal as the base, revealed a Hong Kong-based bunker trader. It usually sells bunker fuel oil from the terminal because of no barges, with sales averaging 150,000mt a month, the trader introduced.
About 60,000-cu-m tanks at Tsing Yi oil terminal was rented by Chimbusco Pan Nation at present.
ExxonMobil may still retain its fuel oil trading team in Hong Kong, which may provide fuel oil transported from the oil major’s refineries or act as second-level middlemen, some traders reckoned. However, some other traders guessed ExxonMobil may thoroughly quit the market while just supplying fuel oil from its refineries in Asia on FOB basis due to fierce low price competition in Hong Kong.
Sources with ExxonMobil declined to give comments, but a source with Chimbusco confirmed the lease of Tsing Yi oil terminal.
Tsing Yi oil terminal has the largest fuel oil storing capacity in Hong Kong, hitting 280,000 cu m; it also has 220,000-cu-m light oil tanks.
Sinopec (Hong Kong) has 100,000-cu-m fuel oil terminal and Chevron owns 30,000 cu m in Hong Kong.