Fuel Oil Storage News

First quarter 2019 proved to be an unusual and largely resilient one for the large crude tanker sector, said Euronav NV, the largest NYSE listed independent crude oil tanker company in the world.The OPEC production cuts of 1.2m bpd announced in Q4 2018 impacted Q1 trading and represents around 3% of the crude which is seaborne each day.Nearly 30  very large crude carriers (VLCC) equivalents were delivered to the global fleet during the same period – an increase of 3% in fleet supply.Despite this demand reduction and increase in supply – the “level” or freight rates in VLCC terms were resilient posting USD 35,000 per day – equivalent to that delivered in Q4 2018.

Maersk Oil Trading has leased oil storage space in Singapore, signalling a push by one of the world's biggest ship fuel buyers into the Asian bunkering hub ahead of changes to global fuel standards from 2020, trade sources said.Maersk Oil has taken storage at the Tankstore oil terminal in Singapore, a spokesman for parent A.P. Moller-Maersk told Reuters, without giving further details.The firm has leased 120,000 cubic meters of space for fuel oil for six months, said three trade sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

The Singapore fuel oil market has rallied this week as inventories have dropped at the same time that some supplies in the region do not meet the standards for use as shipping fuel, further reducing the amount of supply available, five trade sources said.Cash premiums for 380-centistoke fuel oil, which is primarily sold for ship fuel, known as bunker fuel, have soared this week to the highest since May 2017. The premium of the prompt-month swap for the fuel over the second-month swap has jumped to the highest since October…

When markets expand niches are created, goes the logic. For builders of tugs, that market is “floating gas” and the expanding use of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, as a fuel. In support of LNG, there’ll be more oceangoing tug duty — the new floating storage and regasification units, or FSRUs, mean busier LNG carriers, and LNG cargo owners have an interest in tug escorts that share their “carbon footprint”. Still, new emissions rules offer ways to keep using refinery products, and the work of master tug designers suggests the new breeds of tugs are about more than fuel.

Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. plans expansion in Barcelona, contracts with Meroil for onshore fuel oil storage. Aegean Marine Petroleum Network has signed an agreement to secure onshore fuel oil storage capacity in Port of Barcelona and plans to start supply operations by the end of Q1 2013. The port of Barcelona serves as a key transportation hub located along major seaborne trade routes, totalling approximately 10,000 transits per year and generating approximately 1.2 million metric tons of annual marine fuel sales volumes. The port, which also benefits from extensive cruise passenger travel, is currently undergoing a modernization and expansion plan headed by the Barcelona Port Authority that is expected to substantially increase the port's capacity upon completion in 2014.

One of the most enduring business relationships has been reinforced by the Evergreen Group's decision to entrust construction of an extensive new series of post-Panamax containerships to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The project is distinguished not only by its scale, in calling for 10 S-class newbuilds of 6,724-TEU to be delivered between September 2005 and the end of 2007, but also by the adoption of the 'Greenship' design concept proposed by Evergreen chairman Dr. Chang Yung-Fa. Through its special attention to pollution prevention, the 'Greenship' approach calls for fuel oil storage to be protectively located within the athwartship bulkheads dividing the cargo holds. "We don't want fuel oil tanks to be located at the sides and at the bottom of the ships," commented Dr. Chang.

Shell Marine Products (SMP), the global supplier of marine fuels, lubricants and services, announced the start-up of its bunker fuels operations in Mobile, Ala. The company already has a strong business base in the USA Gulf Coast region, supplying bunker fuels and lubricants, and has expanded its geographic coverage to offer fuel oil, gas oil and lubricants to customers in Mobile. Shell Marine Products has fuel oil storage facilities in Mobile Harbor located at Radcliff/Economy Terminal. The company has also secured privileged access to the only double-hull bunker barge in the region to facilitate all fuel oil deliveries. With over 1,000 ships calling Mobile harbor each year, the region is an interesting bunkering market.