Japanese oil and energy companies Showa Shell Sekiyu and Idemitsu Kosan have reached an agreement to combine their very large crude carriers (VLCCs) as part of the companies’ merger arrangements.
Under the deal, the parties would jointly operate some 20 VLCCs, with loadings scheduled to start after May 2017.
The agreement includes sharing vessel positioning of all ships, as well as lending and borrowing of VLCCs between the parties.
The companies would also jointly work on bunker fuel procurement as part of the alliance, to be called Brighter Energy Alliance.
Signed on May 9, the deal was entered into as the business environment surrounding the companies “is becoming more challenging.”
“We will form the alliance as equal business partners, and extensively deepen our business collaboration while restarting or accelerating the processes for the integration,” the parties said.
The alliance would focus on optimization of crude oil purchase and transport, production planning, interchange of finished products and intermediate products, and improvement of efficiency of logistics network.