File picture shows a Chinese New Year lantern installation on display outside a Sinopec gas station in Hong Kong. [Photo/Agencies]

BEIJING - China's top oil refiner Sinopec Corp and Britain-based energy giant British Petroleum (BP) co-established a marine fuel company on Tuesday to explore the global market with combined advantages.

A subsidiary of Sinopec signed the agreement with BP in Singapore, a major marine fuel market in Asia, to start the joint venture equally owned by the two companies, said Sinopec.

The new bunker fuel oil company will operate based on existing branches of the two and increase presence in markets, besides Singapore, in other world major ports including Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and Tianjin, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo and Shenzhen in China.

Bunker fuel refers to any type of fuel used aboard vessels.

Sinopec occupies more than a third of bunker fuel oil market in China, while BP boasts full business network around the world.