MPPE, Puma Energy JV for Jet Fuel Distribution

Myanmar's state-owned Myanma Petroleum Products Enterprise (MPPE) has agreed to a joint venture with Puma Energy Group Pte Ltd to distribute jet fuel, the state-owned Myanma Alinn daily reported on Saturday.

Last year, MPPE chose Puma Energy from a short list of four firms as its partner to distribute jet fuel amid a rise in demand from new airports and a boom in tourist arrivals.

MPPE and Singapore-based Puma Energy Group signed the agreement in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw on Friday, the daily reported.

Under the agreement, the two firms will set up National Energy Puma Aviation Services Co Ltd and MPPE will receive $20 million from Puma Energy as a signature bonus.

MPPE will invest $26 million in machinery and equipment while Puma Energy will invest $51 million in the joint venture, the paper said.

MPPE is currently the sole distributor of jet fuel in the country, providing 29 million gallons of fuel at 11 airports annually.

Puma Energy Group operates in more than 40 countries and posted turnover of $13.4 billion in 2014, according to its website. It provides jet fuel distribution services to 47 airports around the world.

Demand for jet fuel at Myanmar's three international airports in Yangon, Mandalay and Naypyidaw is expected to grow rapidly. Tourist arrivals have been rising steadily since a quasi-civilian government took office in 2011.

The value of jet fuel imports has also risen, totalling $2.44 billion in 2014/2015, up from $2.3 billion in 2013/2014 and $1.92 billion in 2010/2011, according to government data.

(Reporting by Aung Hla Tun; Editing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Edmund Klamann)