Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 9 -- Malaysian trading firm Ben Rautin Sdn. Bhd. plans to develop a cluster of oil tank farms and a port in Lufeng, China, as part of a wider project to build a petroleum hub for the region.
Ben Rautin managing director Ismail Rautin Ibrahim said the firm owns a 30-sq-km site in Lufeng that it plans to develop into the petroleum hub for southern China. The development will be comprised of industrial park, township, tank farms, and a port.
Ben Rautin is working with the Beijing Petroleum Design Institute to determine storage capacity requirements and construction costs, Ismail said.
It also plans to build four storage tanks for petroleum products at Huizhou port, between Lufeng and Shenzhen in southern China. Construction starting dates were not given.
Meanwhile, Ben Rautin will discuss oil supplies and financing for the two projects with investors from the Middle East, which are due in Malaysia next month. Ismail did not name the investors or their counties.
To cut transportation costs, Ismail said, Ben Rautin may use the proposed $7 billion transpeninsular oil pipeline as part of the supply chain transporting crude from the Middle East to the China industrial park.
Last month, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Malaysia will examine the cost and environmental impact of a proposed multibillion dollar oil pipeline before approving the project (OGJ Online, July 18, 2007).
Earlier, Ranhill Engineers & Constructors secured a contract for the design, engineering, procurement, construction, and testing of a 320-km west-east oil pipeline across Malaysia (OGJ Online, May 29, 2007).
Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].
