SINGAPORE: China Aviation Oil (CAO), Asia's largest jet fuel trader, said it started commercial operations on Monday of a joint-venture oil storage terminal in South Korea with capacity of 1.3 million cubic metres.
The terminal is part of the company's ambitious plan to expand globally.
The facility was initially expected to be operational by late 2012, but construction was delayed due to rain and cold weather, a CAO spokeswoman said.
She declined to say how many companies had leased or shown interest in the storage facility so far.
The $500 million terminal comprises 36 storage tanks with sizes ranging from 6,000 cubic metres to 80,000 cubic metres and is able to handle crude oil and oil products, the company said.
State-run Korean National Oil Corporation (KNOC) is the largest shareholder with a 29 percent stake, while CAO holds 26 percent. Other shareholders include SK Energy, GS Caltex, Samsung C&T Corp, LG International Corp and Seoul Line Corp.
CAO has signed an eight-year lease with the terminal operators to store middle distillates.
"As Korea is CAO's main source of jet fuel supply and located geographically close to its key customers in China, securing oil storage at OKYC's terminal has significantly strengthened CAO's ability to ensure certainty of jet fuel supply to China," CAO Chief Executive Meng Fanqiu said in a statement.
The facility will also support CAO's trading activities to the west coast of United States, southeast Asia and Europe, he added.
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