Singapore port authorities have identified 49 companies that are offering or will soon offer lower-sulphur marine fuels, in the run-up to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) 2020 sulphur cap.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) released details of licensed bunker suppliers that will provide compliant fuels in the port, in what is likely a first for a major bunkering port. The companies identified are already offering IMO 2020-compliant fuels such as 0.5pc sulphur marine gasoil (MGO), 0.5pc low-sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) and 0.1pc ultra-LSFO, or will do so by the first quarter of 2020 at the latest.
Most of the physical suppliers on the list already offer MGO with a maximum sulphur content of 0.5pc and will start offering 0.5pc LSFO from the third and fourth quarters of this year. A few will also be able to start supplying 0.1pc ULSFO. Equatorial Marine Fuel Management Services will have 0.5pc LSFO available from June, with Maersk Oil Trading to follow in August. Most oil majors, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell and Total, will have compliant LSFO available in Singapore in the fourth quarter of this year, while BP has indicated it will supply compliant fuels on a "subject to demand" basis.
The MPA list shows that the large majority of suppliers are currently offering HSFO, as expected, but does not say which companies will continue to offer the product after the IMO regulations take effect on 1 January next year.
Only about 10pc of the global bunker market will remain dependent on HSFO after 2020 because of the installation of scrubbers, according to Argus Consulting. This means most of the demand will have to be met by fuels that comply with the IMO's tougher sulphur cap of 0.5pc, down from 3.5pc now.
