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SINGAPORE, May 19 (Reuters) - British oil major BP and China's Sinopec Fuel Oil are starting aSingapore-based joint venture in ship fuel storage and sales, BPsaid in a statement on Tuesday.
The 50/50 joint venture, which builds on a similar agreementsigned in 2011, will leverage both companies' existing bunkeringlocations and activities to deliver marine fuel to theircustomers, with a strong focus on Chinese shipping companies, aBP spokeswoman said in an email.
"The ports served by BP Sinopec Marine Fuels Pte Ltd willbe: Singapore; Fujairah, United Arab Emirates; Antwerp, Belgium;Rotterdam and Amsterdam in the Netherlands; Tianjin, Qingdao,Shanghai, Ningbo and Shenzhen, China," the statement said.
Unlike the Singapore market which is open to around 60suppliers, the Chinese marine fuel market is limited to only afew players, including Sinopec, Chimbusco and Brightoil, tradesources said.
"BP gives access to their physical locations against gettingaccess to China, which is a very restricted market," said aSingapore-based fuel trader.
Sinopec is one of the top refiners in China and has a thirdof China's bonded bunker market, which sells up to 9 milliontonnes of fuel a year.
BP has been the largest marine fuel seller in Singaporesince 2004, with estimated monthly sales of around 400,000tonnes. Singapore sold 42.4 million tonnes of marine fuel lastyear. (Reporting by Jane Xie and Henning Gloystein; Editing by AlanRaybould)
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