PetroChina's Ningbo Daxie oil dock goes into operation

Oct. 27, 2009 (China Knowledge) - PetroChina Co Ltd's<601857><0857><PTR> Daxie oil dock, which is located on Tianwan Road, Ningbo Daxie Development Zone, Zhejiang Province and has an oil stevedoring capacity of 300,000 tons, went into operation on Oct. 23, according to a report posted on the oil giant's website.

The Daxie oil dock, which is part of a 1.3-million cubic meter oil depot project, covers an area of 29.4 hectares. The four investors in the project are PetroChina Fuel Oil Co Ltd, an investment firm belonging to CITIC Group and two companies based in Ningbo.

The oil dock started construction in December 2007 and completed construction on Aug. 20, 2009. In the period form Sep. 1 to Oct. 22, the oil dock operated on a trial basis.

Sun Longde, vice president of PetroChina, said that the completion of the oil depots and docks in Ningbo Daxie Development Zone is crucial for PetroChina, which wants to further develop the southern domestic market.

Reportedly, Chinese petrochemical equipment producers signed 76 contracts with foreign investors worth a total of US$4.64 billion at the 2009 China International Petroleum and Petrochemical Equipment & Technology Exhibition, which was held in Dongying, Shangdong Province, where PetroChina's Daqing oil field is located.

Another 48 contracts worth RMB 615 million in total were signed among domestic firms.