A weekly Argus news digest of interest to the conventional and alternative marine fuel markets. To speak to our team about accessing the stories below and access to Argus Marine Fuels, please contact marinefuels@argusmedia.com.
Alternative marine fuels
16 June Yara, Cepsa agree green ammonia offtake Norway-based fertilizer producer Yara has signed a low-carbon ammonia offtake agreement with Spanish energy company Cepsa, with the companies also planning to build a 750,000 t/yr green ammonia facility in San Roque, near the port of Algeciras.
16 June Argentinian biodiesel lifts EU imports in April A resurgence in arrivals of biodiesel from Argentina helped to lift monthly EU biodiesel imports in April to a two-month high, but China remained the largest origin for volumes of biodiesel outside the bloc in the month.
16 June China's Chifeng city eyes 1mn t/yr green methanol plant China's Chifeng government, state-backed power producer CGN New Energy and producer Yangzhou Jidao Energy have agreed to invest around 26bn yuan ($3.65bn) in a 1mn t/yr green methanol project.
15 June Carnival liner to use methanol for hotel electric power Cruise line operator Carnival said it will use methanol for hotel electric power generation on a vessel it has recently commissioned.
15 June LNG cheapest alternative fuel to reduce GHG : Sea-LNG The latest data from Sea-LNG, an industry coalition lobbying for the use of LNG in shipping, show that LNG-fuelled ships may be more cost effective at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than methanol or ammonia.
15 June HVO cargoes, demand pick up in France TotalEnergies' 500,000 t/yr La Mede hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) unit is working well, supplying seaborne cargoes to new domestic destinations, as overall French HVO consumption rises.
15 June Gasum to supply LNG to MSC Cruises' new flagship Finnish state-owned Gasum has signed a long-term deal to supply LNG to Switzerland-based cruise operator MSC Cruises' new flagship MSC Euribia, with the firms also entering into a preliminary agreement on using liquefied synthetic gas on MSC Cruises' ships.
15 June Japan's LNG imports remain weak in May Japan's LNG imports remained weak in May, as the country's main power utilities held above average inventories of the fuel.
15 June Ammonia tweak leaves 'nothing' in EU hydrogen mandates A new explanatory recital to the revised renewables directive (REDIII) would effectively "leave nothing" left of the EU's obligation for industry to source 42pc of energy and non-energy hydrogen consumption from renewables, industry association Hydrogen Europe has said.
15 June Varo secure feedstock in Dutch biogas firm purchase Swiss refining company Varo Energy is to take over biogas trading firm Renewable Energy Services (RES) through a 100pc share purchase.
15 June Japan's Mol joins US ammonia production, export project Japanese shipping firm Mitsui OSK Line (Mol) has joined US ammonia production and shipping project Ascension Clean Energy (ACE).
14 June Amsterdam, Bilbao ports to form green hydrogen corridor The Dutch port of Amsterdam and its Spanish counterpart in Bilbao have agreed to create a corridor for transporting "renewable hydrogen and synthetic fuels" from the Basque country, in the north of Spain, to the Netherlands.
14 June EU to commission study on biofuel bunkers The EU's European Maritime Safety Agency (Emsa) has issued a tender for a study on safe bunkering with biofuels.
14 June Spain's Cepsa plans 750,000 t/yr green ammonia plant Spanish multi-energy company Cepsa plans to open a 750,000 t/yr green ammonia plant at the Algeciras pole of its 2GW Andalusian Green Hydrogen Valley Initiative in 2027.
14 June Indian methanol prices at over two-year low Methanol prices in India plunged to the lowest levels in the week to 9 June since September 2020, with no clear indications that the market has bottomed out.
14 June Santander LNG bunkering facility starts operations Spanish energy firm Repsol has begun operations at its LNG bunkering facility in Santander.
14 June Spanish diesel and biodiesel demand fall in April Spanish biodiesel and diesel demand declined in April, according to state-owned strategic reserve Cores.
13 June Spain's Iberdrola to ship green ammonia to Rotterdam Spanish utility Iberdrola is planning to deliver renewable ammonia to Rotterdam, and has signed a preliminary agreement with the operator of the planned Ace Terminal there and with Dutch gas system operator Gasunie's hydrogen subsidiary Hynetwork Services.
13 June Maersk signs biomethanol supply deal with OCI Global Danish shipping firm AP Moller-Maersk has signed a biomethanol supply deal with Dutch supplier OCI Global for the first voyage of the world's first methanol-enabled container carrier.
13 June CNOOC's Binhai terminal supplies LNG bunkering vessel Chinese state-controlled CNOOC's 3mn t/yr Binhai LNG terminal filled an LNG bunkering vessel to operate in China's Ningbo-Zhoushan port on 11 June, the firm said.
12 June New fuels could alter bunkering map Supply of zero-carbon fuels for shipping such as methanol and ammonia could change where vessels refuel, according to a survey by the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) and Boston Consulting Group.
12 June Malaysian palm oil stocks rise on higher production Malaysian palm oil stocks rose last month, driven by domestic production hitting a year-to-date high and exports remaining low.
12 June Japan's Jera, German firms to study ammonia cracking Japanese power producer Jera plans to develop ammonia cracking technology to produce hydrogen at northern Germany's Rostock port with German power utility Energie Baden-Wurttemberg (EnBW) and German gas retailer VNG.
12 June A2b-online orders two multi-fuel ships European container carrier A2b-online has ordered two 650TEU methanol multi-fuelled vessels from German engineering company Technolog Services.
Conventional marine fuels
16 June Panama bunker sales at 3-year low for May Panama's May bunker sales neared a three-year low because of tighter high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) availability.
16 June Brazilian 2023 residual fuel oil exports drop Brazilian residual fuel oil exports have dropped in the first four months 2023 with lower production and strong competition from Russia.
16 June Kuwait offers first term VLSFO from al-Zour Kuwait's state-owned refiner KPC has issued its first tender for term supplies of 0.5pc sulphur marine fuel from its new 615,000 b/d al-Zour refinery.
16 June Pernis refinery shuts 2nd CDU after leak Shell has shut the second crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 404,000 b/d Pernis refinery in Rotterdam, meaning the site is not processing any crude, after a leak was reported last week.
15 June Greece's Thessaloniki refinery slashes bitumen output Greek refiner Helleniq Energy has slashed bitumen production at its 66,500 b/d Thessaloniki refinery, tightening regional supply at a time of rising seasonal demand for road paving.
15 June US west coast ports, union reach tentative deal A union representing thousand of workers at US west coast ports has reached a tentative labor deal with port operators, which could resolve some slowdowns in the movement of goods in the region.
15 June Singapore fuel oil inventories at a seven-week high Singapore's residual fuel and middle distillate inventories rose, while light distillate inventory volumes fell on the week.
15 June China's May crude runs ease amid diesel lull China's crude runs dipped last month on the back of seasonal refinery maintenance and weaker-than-expected domestic consumption of oil products, especially diesel.
15 June Iran's switch to HSFO threatens bitumen output Iranian authorities are directing the country's refiners to produce more high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO), which will divert vacuum bottom (VB) feedstock away from bitumen production and potentially squeeze the country's output of the road paving material from October onwards.
15 June Ice gasoil futures liquidity back to pre-war levels Around 327,000t of Ice June gasoil futures changed hands on the morning of the contract's expiry, the largest traded volume for any expiring contract since November 2021, before the price volatility of 2022 sharply reduced liquidity.
14 June Novatek unveils Ust-Luga hydrocracker Novatek has commissioned a 1mn t/yr heavy fuel oil hydrocracker at its 6mn t/yr condensate fractionation plant at the Baltic port of Ust-Luga.
14 June NWE Scrubber Spread hits narrowest level since 2020 The scrubber (Hi-5) spread in northwest Europe hit $59/t on 13 June, the lowest since 5 November 2020, according to Argus data.
14 June Weather disrupts bunker deliveries in Fujairah Deliveries of marine fuels to vessels in Fujairah in the UAE, the world's third largest bunkering centre, have stopped as a result of rough sea conditions.
14 June Cuba advances rebuild of fire-hit fuel terminal Cuba will complete the reconstruction of the first of four tanks at its main fuel import terminal in April 2024, four months earlier than originally scheduled, state-run fuel maintenance company Empet said.
14 June Tanker supply shortage looming: Gibson An aging fleet and the lowest orderbook in two decades have the potential to create an oil tanker supply shortage within the next few years, according to shipbrokerage Gibson.
14 June Singapore's bunker sales rise on year in May Total bunker sales in Singapore rose by 12pc from a year earlier to 4.52mn t in May, according to official data from the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA).
13 June WFS enters Jamaica bunker market US-based fuel supplier World Fuel Services (WFS) is working with Scott Petroleum, an oil distributor in the Caribbean, to establish a bunkering service in Jamaica.
13 June PdV refinery producing 20,000 b/d: Ministry Key Venezuelan refinery El Palito is now producing 20,000 b/d of diesel and gasoline together, a Venezuelan energy ministry source told Argus, after being mostly offline since August 2022.
13 June North Gujarat ports close ahead of cyclone Several ports in Gujarat state in north-west India have closed because of Cyclone Biparjoy, according to the market participants.
13 June CNOOC's Binhai terminal supplies LNG bunkering vessel Chinese state-controlled CNOOC's 3mn t/yr Binhai LNG terminal filled an LNG bunkering vessel to operate in China's Ningbo-Zhoushan port on 11 June, the firm said.
13 June West Africa's diesel suppliers vanish in early June Diesel and gasoil cargo departures to west Africa from two of the region's largest suppliers have dropped to zero in June, contributing to an overall fall of one third on the month.
12 June Monjasa acquires new ships for Africa and Mideast Gulf Danish marine fuel trading and supply firm Monjasa has acquired two oil and chemical tankers for use in west Africa and the Mideast Gulf.
12 June India's RIL declares force majeure with cyclone Oil product cargo loadings are likely to be delayed after Indian private-sector refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) declared force majeure (FM) at its main export terminal at Sikka port in Gujarat state because of Cyclone Biparjoy.
12 June BP restarts Lingen refinery Operator BP confirmed it is currently restarting the 94,000 b/d Lingen refinery in Germany after an eight-week shutdown.
12 June US increases European diesel market share The US has been providing more than 10pc of Europe's diesel imports since the start of May, up from around 5pc last year and 7-8pc in the opening months of this year. Cargoes have probably been freed up by Russian sellers taking around half of the US' previous market share in Brazil.
12 June French diesel demand sated by stocks during strikes French 10ppm diesel consumption in March was covered by the largest stock draw in the past 10 years, as industrial action cut refinery output and stymied imports.
