Unipec, the marketing arm of Sinopec, has booked the world’s largest super-tanker – the 3.2-million-barrel TI Europe – to store crude at sea, adding to a growing flotilla of vessels used for floating storage as benchmark oil prices slip below USD100 a barrel. The TI Europe is one of just a handful of ultra-large crude carriers (ULCCs) still in service. It is listed as the world’s largest ocean-going vessel by tonnage, and is as long as the Empire State building is tall at 380 meters. The booking is the latest sign that soaring oil supplies and tumbling prices are prompting traders to store crude in volumes not seen since the financial crisis more than five years ago. Analysts estimate more than 50 million barrels of oil may already be placed in storage. The move also demonstrates the growing clout of state-backed Chinese firms in international oil trading, with Unipec and PetroChina establishing sophisticated dealing desks in key hubs such as London and Singapore in recent years. Unipec plans to ship cheap oil from Europe and store it off Singapore aboard the ULCC, trading sources said. Unipec has also bought large volumes of Russia’s main export crude, Urals.