September 24, 2015 [Reuters] - The second phase of VTTI's storage unit at Tanjung Bin oil terminal in southern Malaysia has been fully leased to store fuel oil, industry sources said on Wednesday.
The second phase of the Tanjung Bin terminal added 260,000 cubic metres of storage on Aug. 1 to an existing capacity of 893,000 cubic metres.
Malaysia’s Petronas and Koch Supply and Trading have since leased the tank space equally, one of the sources said, though this could not be confirmed.
Petronas officials were not immediately available for comment, and Koch did not immediately respond to an e-mail.
A steep contango in the fuel oil market amid abundant supply is encouraging traders to store the shipping and feedstock fuel in landed storage sites and tankers.
Singapore onshore fuel oil stocks reached a record high in the week to Sept. 16 before falling 6 percent this week, data from trade agency International Enterprise showed.
Phase two of the Tanjung Bin oil terminal also added a jetty that can accommodate Aframax vessels with a capacity of 120,000 deadweight tonnes (DWT).
VTTI is fully owned by the Vitol Group after the latter bought the 50 percent VTTI stake from Malaysian shipping company MISC Berhad in August.
The Tanjung Bin terminal‘s first phase, which started in April 2012, is also fully leased.
The first phase is able to store fuel oil, middle distillates and gasoline, while its jetty can accommodate a partly laden very large crude carrier (VLCC) or a fully laden Suezmax vessel.
