Zhoushan Port ranks 5th in bunkering

The Zhejiang Free Trade Zone has been propelling the development of the oil and gas industry in Zhoushan in Zhejiang province, turning it into the fifth-largest bunkering port in the world.

Bunkering refers to the process of filling a ship.

According to the 2021 Global Bunker Rankings by Port released at the International Petroleum and Natural Gas Enterprises Conference 2022 on Tuesday, Zhoushan Port jumped five spots in the last four years to fifth place — behind Singapore, Rotterdam, Fujairah and Hong Kong — with a bonded oil supply volume of 5.52 million metric tons last year.

Since the establishment of a section of the Zhejiang FTZ in Zhoushan and its outlying islands, the Zhoushan area has been building an entire oil and gas industry chain with one center, three bases and one demonstration zone.

Yushan island in Zhoushan, with a population of just a few hundred residents, will be transformed into a green petrochemical base with an estimated annual oil refining capacity of 40 million metric tons. After its second phase was completed at the end of 2021, the base became the largest chemical refining integration project in the country.

Last year, it processed 26.52 million metric tons of crude oil, and Zhejiang Petroleum and Chemical Co, the operator and investor, generated 139 billion yuan ($20.1 billion) in revenue.

Reforms promoted in the Zhoushan area also attracted fuel oil suppliers and traders.

"The efforts that Zhoushan has made over the past five years, especially in terms of bonded oil supply services, have helped improve our working efficiency and reduce our costs," said Tang Jun, chief of the Shanghai representative office of Peninsula Petroleum.

Because of the innovative reforms, over the past five years more than 35,000 enterprises registered in Zhoushan, over 9,300 of which are related to oil products.

Since 2017, the IPEC has served as a platform for cooperation in the global oil industry. This year's conference was held in Zhoushan on Tuesday and Wednesday and was attended by more than 300 managers of energy-related enterprises.