BP Shipping inks $869m tanker leasing deal with ICBC

ICBC Leasing, the financial leasing arm of China’s state-run bank ICBC, has signed a ship leasing agreement with BP Shipping, the shipping unit of oil and gas giant BP, for the leasing of 18 tankers yesterday.

Under the agreement, ICBC Leasing will lease out the tankers to BP Shipping for ten years. At $869m this is the largest ever financing project for BP Shipping. The deal was signed as part of Chinese president Xi Jinping’s state visit to the United Kingdom.

Jiang Shuqing, president of ICBC, said the signing paves the way for ICBC to further expand its market in the international oil and gas industry.

The ship leasing deal is part of BP Shipping’s fleet renewal plan and ICBC Leasing won the deal through a tender arranged by BP Shipping.

ICBC Leasing is currently one of the largest shipowners in the world, controlling RMB44.3bn ($7bn) worth of ships and offshore equipment assets.

BP Shipping’s fleet renewal plan has seen it order a host of ships in South Korea at STX, Hyundai Mipo and DSME.

Also signed yesterday during President Xi’s busy UK trip was a deal worth up to $10bn between BP and China Huadian Corp. BP will supply up to 1m tons of LNG annually to the Beijing-based company.

Among President Xi’s other appointments in the UK is a visit to leading satellite communications firm, Inmarsat.