SINGAPORE, July 26 (Reuters) – US-based McQuilling is expanding into energy brokerage in Asia by starting a fuel oil broking desk next month, possibly the first shipbroker to do so globally, a senior executive said.

It has hired a six-person team, including five senior brokers who left MF Global about a month ago, to start a new subsidiary in Singapore, managing director Randy Ho told Reuters in an interview.

McQuilling Energy Brokerage Asia is a wholly owned subsidiary of McQuilling Brokerage Partners Asia, the firm's Singapore-based shipbroking arm.

''We are not just going do fuel oil alone, we want to offer the full spectrum of services including middle distillates, naphtha, chemicals and FFAs (Freight Forward Agreements)eventually,'' he said.

''We are looking for the right people or hire young ones and train them. We are taking slow prudent steps and have not set ourselves any fixed timeframe beyond the current expansion.''

McQuilling diversified into energy broking to capitalize on the firm's existing customers on the shipbroking side, which include major trading companies, Ho said.

''I saw the synergy four years ago but finding the right people has not been easy,'' said the 37-year-old Ho.

''Since then, we have developed deeper relationships with our customers and understood them better. Now, with the right people on board, I believe it is the right time to start this business.''

The company is stepping into fuel oil broking during a difficult period in a saturated market that has led to two other firms, MF Global and Nittan Capital, to shut their Asia fuel oil desks.

''The broking business is a strange one, where its only assests are its people, and it's easier to find good people in a bad market.''

Its new fuel oil team will be headed by veteran broker Andy Choo, who will be managing director of McQuilling Energy Brokerage Asia, while four of the remaining five are senior brokers with more than  10 years of experience.

Ho said he has set a revenue target of $1 million for the firm's first year of operation, versus the $8 million revenue that the shipbroking firm accrued last year, down from $11 million in 2008 due to a poorer freight market.