The MABUX weekly round-up:
- Chinese refineries have cut output, causing crude stocks to pile up. That has left numerous Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs), capable of holding more than 2 million barrels of crude each, unable to unload at China’s top crude import terminal of Qingdao. Other cargoes are being diverted to South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and other locales in China.
- OMV Petrom (Romania) has started to produce IMO 2020-compliant VLSFO, first delivery at Constanza port. Developed at the Petrobrazi refinery, the new very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) is said to be ‘unique to the Romanian market’ and for the first time reduces the country’s reliance on bunker fuel imports.
- Egypt denied reports that the navigation movement at the Suez Canal has been affected due to the spread of coronavirus in China. The Suez Canal Authority dismissed these reports stressing that navigation at the Suez Canal is normal.
- The International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) has warned the International Maritime Organization (IMO) member states of the risks of imposing a universal policy on open-loop scrubber washwater discharge that ignores local conditions. As per Association, if attempt to harmonize local rules on discharges, shipping industry might end up with a ‘one size fits all" policy, that risks being too restrictive for some ports and coastal areas and not restrictive enough for others.
- IEA, annual methane emissions from oil and gas are around 80 million metric tonnes. Upstream methane emissions have been a particular critical issue when assessing the overall, life-cycle environmental impact of using liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel.
- Gazprom Neft (Russia) plans to produce more than 1.5 million mt/year of low-sulphur fuels for the domestic market, including both VLSFO and ultra-low sulphur fuel oil (ULSFO) for use in emission control areas.
- Portuguese oil refiner Galp is currently producing up to 220,000 mt/month of very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) but no high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO). Shipowners hoping to find HSFO in Portugal for their scrubber-equipped vessels have to look elsewhere.
- The total volumes of bunker fuel sold in Rotterdam in 2019 dipped to below nine million cubic metres in 2019, down from 9.5 million cbm in the previous year. In the meantime, the bunkering demand for LNG, biofuels and VLSFO has increased over the past year – but then LNG and biofuels are still building from a low base and the jump in VLSFO sales has been precipitated by the introduction of the IMO 2020 0.50% global sulphur cap.
- Maersk has announced a 6.7% reduction in its bunkering consumption in 2019 compared to 2018. This reduction is even with fleet growth. The figures additionally indicate a bunker price of $412 per tonne in 2019 compared to $424 USD per tonne in 2018.
- The Standard Club has advised its members about 'sudden and unannounced' inspections by Turkish customs on ships. A number of incidents have been reported where custom officials have boarded ships for the purpose of checking the ship’s actual fuel quantity against the one declared on arrival.
- Argus reported that High sulphur fuel oil now claims just a 5% share of the total bunker market in the US. HSFO makes up 5% of sales, marine gasoil 33- 38% and very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) 57- 62%.
- Singapore’s residual fuel oil inventories jumped 10% to their highest in more than nine months, in the week ended 19 February, despite plummeting net import volumes, in the latest sign of sluggish bunker demand in the city-state.
