February 15, 2016 [Reuters] - Vopak said on Monday it has started operations at a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) import and storage terminal in Singapore, the first independent LPG storage site in southeast Asia.
The terminal has an initial capacity of close to 80,000 cubic metres, Vopak said in a statement.
“We are very well positioned to capture the flows of LPG coming from the U.S. and the Middle East,” Tan Soo Koong, managing director of Vopak Terminals Singapore, said in a statement.
Asia has seen a rise in imports of LPG, a fuel for residential use for cooking and heating and a feedstock for petrochemical production.
Vopak said its Banyan terminal at Singapore’s Jurong Island received its first LPG cargo onboard the tanker Sun Aries as part of the start up.
The shipment of liquefied propane from the tanker will be delivered to ExxonMobil, one of the anchor tenants of Vopak’s Singapore terminal.
“The LPG facility will help in providing us increased flexibility in securing advantaged feedstock,” Gan Seow Kee, chairman and managing director of ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte Ltd.
Vopak owns 80 percent of the terminal and SK Gas International Pte Ltd, a unit of South Korea’s SK Gas , holds the remaining share.
