China LNG Shipping, as the country's sole LNG shipping company, was jointly controlled by China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO), China Merchants Group, and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).
It did not discuss about the ownership of the 147,000-cubic-meter carrier, but the Chinese side still wanted a stake of 51%, said sources. More details are yet to be finalized.
The carrier will be used to transport oil and gas products that Malaysia's state-owned petroleum firm Petronas has at Bintulu to a new LNG terminal, which CNOOC and a Shanghai-based energy group will put into operation in Shanghai in the following days.
Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd., a large shipbuilder under the wing of China Shipbuilding Group Corporation (CSSC), is in charge of building of the sizable LNG carrier.