ITOCHU Signs Agreement to Export 4 Aframax Vessels to the Shipping Arm of Venezuelan State-Owned Oil Company PDVSA
February 4, 2011
ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Masahiro Okafuji, President & CEO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it reached an agreement on February 3 with Panavenflot Corp, the Panama-based subsidiary of PDV Marina S.A., which is the shipping arm of Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA, for the sale of the four 104,300 dwt Aframax crude carriers that will be constructed by Sumitomo Heavy Industries Marine & Engineering Co., Ltd.
The agreement is a package deal with the PDVSA Group, which includes the export contract and the buyer’s credit loan to be provided by State-owned Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) in collaboration with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation to Panavenflot to build the four crude carriers.
This is the first time that ITOCHU has signed an agreement to build new vessels with the PDVSA Group since 1991, when ITOCHU took part in the consortium to provide financing to the Group to build new vessels. ITOCHU will continue to expand its contribution to the PDVSA’s fleet expansion plans and petrochemical projects, utilizing the experience and knowledge gained in that key market to make further strides in developing the economic foundations of Venezuela.