PT2SB signs financing agreement for Malaysia oil storage terminal

SINGAPORE, Dec 12 (Reuters) - * Dutch oil and chemical storage company Royal Vopak said that PT2SB, a joint venture between it and Malaysia's Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas), Dialog Group Berhad and the Malaysian state of Johor, had signed a $1.25 billion financing agreement with a syndicate of 9 banks for an oil storage terminal. * The financing will cover the PT2SB terminal in Pengerang in southern Malaysia, which started construction in early 2015 and is due for completion in the first half of 2019, Vopak said in a statement on Tuesday. * The terminal will mainly serve the upcoming Petronas Refinery and Petrochemicals Integrated Development project (RAPID), Vopak said. * It will have an initial storage capacity of 1.65 million cubic metres, for crude oil, refined oil products, petrochemicals and liquefied petroleum gas, Vopak said. * It will have 12 berths and a draft limit of 24 metres, able to accommodate very large crude carriers (VLCC). * The project is estimated to cost about $1.6 billion, of which around 20 percent will be funded with equity contributions by shareholders and the rest via project financing through the banking syndicate, it said. * Vopak said the syndicate of 9 banks includes Malaysia's AmInvestment Bank, Singapore's DBS and Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. (Reporting by Jessica Jaganathan; Editing by Joseph Radford)