China's Unipec Books Megatanker to Store Crude

Chinese oil trader Unipec has booked one of the world's largest ships to store crude off Singapore, trade sources said on Monday, hiring a 3.2 million barrel capacity supertanker to hold the oil at sea until prices recover.

The TI Europe is one of just a handful of Ultra Large Crude Carries (ULCC), a category of vessel that is capable of carrying more than 3 percent of daily global world oil demand.

International benchmark Brent crude prices fell below $100 a barrel on Monday for the first time in more than a year, with prices tumbling by more than 15 percent since June due to weak demand and ample supply.

(Reporting by David Sheppard and Ron Bousso in London; editing by David Clarke)