BW Group Aims to Double its Size

BW Group aims to double its value to $10 billion by 2010, and may fund its growth by listing its business units, NDTV.com reported. Increased supply deals with Chinese oil majors and new tanker orders will lead to growth that could see BW offer the public shares in its units not already listed. The BW Group has four divisions: BW Tankers, BW Bulk and BW Offshore and BW Gas, a unit that was listed on the Oslo stock exchange last year. The gas unit, which transports liquefied natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas in tankers, was acquired in 2003 when the group bought Norwegian gas heavyweight Bergesen DY. The company has hopes of doubling its equity every five years and foresees potential acquisitions to meet its growth ambitions. Demands for oil tankers from China and India are also expected to fuel its growth. The firm had recently secured a number of long-term contracts to transport energy with Chinese majors PetroChina and Unipec, the trading unit of Sinopec Corp. In addition to transporting energy to China, BW Group expects to invest further in new shipbuilding at Chinese shipyards, having spent $660m on new tankers in the first quarter. It ordered in March two 320,000-deadweight ton Ultra Large Crude Carriers (ULCC) and has another two Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) on order to add to its 21-strong fleet already in service. Earlier in the year, it purchased eight Chinese-built oil product tankers for $449m, to be delivered over the next two years. India, Asia's third-largest oil user, aims to boost its refining capacity from 2.66 million barrels per day, meaning increased demand for oil shipments. (Source: NDTV.com)