SINGAPORE - British oil major BP and China’s Sinopec Fuel Oil are starting a Singapore-based joint venture in ship fuel storage and sales, BP said in a statement on Tuesday. The 50/50 joint venture, which builds on a similar agreement signed in 2011, will leverage both companies’ existing bunkering locations and activities to deliver marine fuel to their customers, with a strong focus on Chinese shipping companies, a BP spokeswoman said in an email. “The ports served by BP Sinopec Marine Fuels Pte Ltd will be: Singapore; Fujairah, United Arab Emirates; Antwerp, Belgium; Rotterdam and Amsterdam in the Netherlands; Tianjin, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo and Shenzhen, China,” the statement said. Unlike the Singapore market which is open to around 60 suppliers, the Chinese marine fuel market is limited to only a few players, including Sinopec, Chimbusco and Brightoil, trade sources said. “BP gives access to their physical locations against getting access to China, which is a very restricted market,” said a Singapore-based fuel trader. Sinopec is one of the top refiners in China and has a third of China’s bonded bunker market, which sells up to 9 million tonnes of fuel a year. BP has been the largest marine fuel seller in Singapore since 2004, with estimated monthly sales of around 400,000 tonnes. Singapore sold 42.4 million tonnes of marine fuel last year.