ALGIERS, July 14: Mizuho Financial Group signed a $96.35 million loan agreement with an Algerian-Japanese joint venture to finance the construction of a crude oil tanker, an Algerian government-run newspaper said on Saturday.

The very large crude carrier, with a capacity of 2.0 million tons, will supply Asian markets, El Moudjahid said.

The deal between Mizuho and New Ocean Shipping Venture Limited, a 50-50 joint venture between Algerian energy group Sonatrach and Japan's Kawasaki Shipbuilding Corporation set up last year, was signed in London on Thursday, it said.

China's NACKS Shipyard, a joint venture between Chinese company COSCO and Kawasaki, started building the vessel in February 2007, the newspaper added.

State-owned Sonatrach hopes to provide its own transport for 35 per cent of its hydrocarbon exports by 2010 and 50 per cent by 2015, the newspaper said.

—Reuters