A total of 25 agreements are signed between oil and gas companies with local governments, State-owned enterprises and private companies at the IPEC 2018 in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province on Oct 18. [Photo by Shen Lei/Zhoushan Daily]

China (Zhejiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in the island city of Zhoushan is opening its arms to welcome foreign partners as it looks to develop its oil and gas industry. 

Agreements on 25 projects worth 165.6 billion yuan ($23.87 billion) were signed at the second International Petroleum and Natural Gas Enterprises Conference (IPEC 2018) in Zhoushan on Oct 18, in the hope of boosting the construction of a complete industrial chain of oil and gas products in the free trade zone. 

Zhejiang FTZ was established in April 2017 with a focus on the development of an oil and gas industrial chain. An original aim of the FTZ was to facilitate investment and trade liberalization and foster new driving forces for industrial development. 

To achieve the goal, the zone has commenced the building of an international oil trading center, a maritime service base, an oil storage and transportation base, a petrochemical base and a demonstration area for the cross-border trade of bulk commodities. 

International oil and gas business giants such as Saudi Aramco and British Petroleum (BP) are seeing new opportunities in the fact that the central and local governments have attached great importance to Zhoushan’s development in recent years.

This has led to some of the foreign giants making cooperative agreements with local governments, State-owned enterprises and private companies involved in the fields of oil storage and transport, oil trade, and petrochemical.  

Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest energy company, as well as China's largest source of crude oil, have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Zhejiang provincial government to conduct cooperation in the fields of storage, transport, trade and sales. 

Abdulaziz M.AI-Judaimi, senior vice president of Downstream for Saudi Aramco, said they are transforming potential into opportunities. 

Based on the advantages Zhejiang FTZ enjoys in location, policies and resources, BP has agreed to partner up with the management committee of the zone to jointly develop trade, supply, storage and transport, and the refining of oil products. 

All of the 25 projects, including 20 industrial projects and 5 related to procurement, are expected to boost the development of the oil and gas industry in the Zhejiang FTZ.