“It will mostly be used for fuel oil or bunkers but may also be used for crude in the future,” said a PetroChina trading official quoted by Reuters.
China’s state oil firm announced this week that it was increasing its onshore storage capacity in the Caribbean by leasing over 5 million barrels of dirty storage capacity at the Statia terminal on St Eustatius in the Netherlands Antilles.
The move will increase PetroChina’s dirty storage capacity at Statia to 6 million barrels.
Analysts said PetroChina’s move would give the company ‘immediate muscle’ in the region’s residual fuel trade and open up longer-term options for crude trading.
They said it signaled PetroChina’s intention to build a global oil trading network.
In the meantime, sources said PetroChina’s focus would probably be on shorter-term marketing goals, including the regional bunker market.
“It’s in the center covering both North and South America. If you look at the bunker market alone, it’s huge,” said another Beijing-based PetroChina executive quoted by Reuters.