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Marine fuel global weekly market update

  • : Biofuels, E-fuels, Emissions, Fertilizers, Hydrogen, Oil products, Petrochemicals
  • 23/12/01

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

1 December EU's bio-feedstock rules face reality check: Industry The EU is over-reliant on using "waste" biofuels in its plans to decarbonise the aviation, shipping and trucking sectors, while a shortfall in associated feedstock supply could risk missingemissions-reduction targets unless strategies change, the biofuels industry warns.

1 December Spain's Cepsa, C2X plan 300,000 t/yr e-methanol plant Spanish energy company Cepsa has joined Danish shipping firm AP Moller-Maersk's affiliate C2X to develop 300,000 t/yr of e-methanol production capacity, the first of several production facilities planned by C2X in Spain.

1 December Maersk Tankers orders 10 large ammonia carriers Denmark's Maersk Tankers has confirmed an order for up to 10 very large ammonia carriers (VLAC) from South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries.

1 December European marine biodiesel prices converge Marine biodiesel blend price spreads converged along regional lines in November, as traded values eased in the west Mediterranean but held ground in northwest European ports.

1 December Tight supplies lift bunker premiums in UAE's Fujairah Bunker premiums in the UAE's Fujairah, the world's fourth largest bunkering port, rose to their highest in 11 months because of regional refinery problems and delayed cargoes from west of Suez.

30 November Kenoil supplies first bio-MGO blend in Singapore Bunker supplier Kenoil Marine Services will supply the first ever biofuel blended with marine gasoil (MGO) in Singapore.

30 November NCL and Yara plan ammonia-fueled containership Norway-based North Sea Container Line (NCL) in a joined venture with Norway-based fertilizer producer Yara will build the world's first containership that will operate on ammonia.

30 November B24 Med prices down in second half November Mediterranean marine biodiesel blend prices trended downwards in the second half of November as subdued bunkering demand combined with easing fundamentals in the underlying markets.

30 November BV launches first rules for hydrogen vessels Classification society Bureau Veritas (BV) has released its first set of classification rules (NR678) for vessels powered by hydrogen, complimenting the existing rules (NR547) on fuel-cell powered vessels which were launched last year.

30 November Second berth at Freeport LNG restarts operations An empty LNG carrier has arrived at the second loading berth of the US' 15mn t/yr Freeport LNG export facility, suggesting the berth is back in action after being offline since June 2022.

30 November Taiwan's Formosa sells more LSFO as RFCC issue drags on Taiwanese private-sector refiner Formosa Petrochemical likely sold around 160,000t (1.03mn bl) of low-sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) after an extended turnaround at its residual fluid catalytic cracker unit (RFCC) at its 540,000 b/d Mailiao refinery, according to traders.

29 November Petroecuador's LNG tender receives no offers Petroecuador did not receive any offers for a tender to import 4.86bcf of LNG over a three and a half month period.

29 November Spain's Enagas plans 2024 LNG maintenance Spain's seven LNG terminals have added extensive maintenance for next year, with constraints set to peak in the summer, according to the latest provisional plan published by Enagas on 27 November.

29 November Biorig to invest €250mn in 10 Spanish biogas plants Spanish firm Biorig will invest €250mn ($274mn) in the development, construction, and operation of 10 biomethane production facilities in the Castilla and Leon region of northwest Spain.

27 November Preem plans further investment on refinery conversion Swedish firm Preem said it plans to invest a further 5.5bn Swedish kronor ($525mn) on converting its 210,000 b/d Lysekil refinery into a renewable fuels plant.

27 November ERGaR asks EU to pull down biomethane ‘trade barrier' Eight European biomethane associations have sent a joint letter to the European Commission asking for the extra-EU imports of biomethane and biomethane-based fuels to be "certifiable and recognized" under the Union Database.

Conventional marine fuels

1 December First public bids for fob diesel cargoes in NWE The northwest European diesel market has seen the first ever bids for fob cargoes on a public platform, as fob ARA trade has grown in importance for the region since the exclusion of Russian products by EU and UK sanctions.

1 December Spot east-west VLSFO spread halves in late November Singapore's fob very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) premium over northwest Europe halved in late November, with demand for bunkers in the city state subdued.

1 December Houston Ship Channel partially closed due to fog The Houston Ship Channel partially closed at 5:30am ET today because of dense fog, halting inbound traffic in the first such closure of the region's fog season.

30 November China boosts refiners' fuel oil access Beijing has issued a surprise new batch of fuel oil import quotas...

30 November Gunvor adds newbuild tanker to its bitumen fleet International trading firm Gunvor has added a 17,779 deadweight tonne (dwt) newbuild bitumen tanker to its global fleet under what is probably a long-term charter arrangement.

30 November Singapore middle distillates stocks slip Singapore's middle distillates stocks inched lower to a five-week low following increased gasoil and jet fuel exports from the city-state.

29 November US Gulf coast MR tanker rates at all-time highs Lengthening Panama Canal transit delays have pressured Medium-Range (MR) tanker rates to record highs, prompting shipowners to remain in the US Gulf coast market and gain leverage in deals for Pacific-bound voyages that involve spiraling costs to transit the canal.

29 November US gasoline, diesel prices continue to fall: EIA Average US retail gasoline and diesel prices continued to fall during the last full week of November, according to the data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

29 November Spanish marine fuel sales at Algeciras rose in October Sales of marine fuels from Spain's largest port and bunker hub Algeciras turned higher on the year in October after falling in September, although total Spanish marine fuel demand continued to see sharp falls from 2022.

29 November Mideast Gulf refiners negotiate jet, gasoil term deals Mideast Gulf refiners are negotiating term jet fuel and gasoil supply deals for 2024, but different views on market prices are complicating the discussions.

29 November ExxonMobil Fawley's new hydrotreater to run from 2024 ExxonMobil's 270,000 b/d Fawley refinery in southern England will bring a new unit online next year — believed to be a hydrotreater — to boost low-sulphur diesel production by 40pc, the company told Argus today.

29 November Kuwait's al-Zour refinery now eyes mid-December restart Kuwaiti refiner Kipic has said it will take another two weeks to restart the new 615,000 b/d al-Zour refinery after the plant ran to a near halt two weeks ago.

28 November ZIM reroutes ships from Arabian and Red seas Israel-based container shipping company ZIM is diverting some of its vessels transiting the Arabian and Red seas and adding war risk insurance premiums.

28 November Large gas carrier newbuild orders rise Orders for very large ethane carriers (VLECs) and LNG carriers led the newbuild market in the week to 19 November, with orders totalling 544,000m³.

28 November Maersk sells stake in Hoegh Autoliners Danish shipping giant Moller-Maersk has sold 20mn shares in Norway's Hoegh Autoliners, cutting its stake in the firm to zero, according to an Oslo Stock Exchange filing.

28 November Sri Lanka approves China's Sinopec refinery proposal Sri Lanka has approved Chinese state-owned Sinopec's proposal to build a refinery at Sri Lanka's Hambantota district on 27 November.

27 November New Panama Canal auctions aimed at record waits The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) began new special auctions last week for vessels without reservations that have been waiting for at least ten days to transit the Panamax locks, following record delays in recent weeks.

27 November TotalEnergies Port Arthur refinery restarts TotalEnergies restarted units at its 238,000 b/d Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, on 23 November.

27 November Dry bulk dominates secondhand vessel market Dry bulk vessels made up the lion's share of deals in secondhand markets in the week to 19 November, with 27 sold compared with nine tanker deals, according to brokers.


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25/02/17

Frustration over delays to UK CCS and H2 programmes

Frustration over delays to UK CCS and H2 programmes

London, 17 February (Argus) — Companies are growing increasingly frustrated with the UK government over unclear timelines and inadequate funding for carbon capture and storage (CCS) and clean hydrogen projects. The government has drawn strong praise for the design of its contracts-for-difference style production subsidies for electrolytic hydrogen and CCS systems to underpin low-carbon hydrogen from fossil fuels. But too few projects have been able to access the schemes and developers are losing confidence that the UK will match their ambition with sufficient and timely funding. "It's like building a great motorway with five lanes but very few, or no junctions," industry body OEUK's head of energy policy Enrique Cornejo said. "We have a great policy framework, but we don't have access, apart from a very small number of projects," he told the UK CCUS and Hydrogen Decarbonisation Summit in Leeds, northern England this month. Cornejo welcomed a recent final investment decision (FID) for the Teesside CCS system and progress made on northwest England's HyNet cluster, which is expected to reach FID this year, but he urged the government to set out funding and timelines for the Scottish "Acorn" and Humberside "Viking" CCS projects that are supposed to be next in line. "It's been a really long wait for these projects and the risk is very clear that if we don't hear some positive news from the government" there could be "lost investment", he said. It is a view shared by Norway's Equinor, which owns 45pc of the Teesside CCS project and a portfolio of Humberside hydrogen proposals that are in limbo having been overlooked in initial government selections. "Keeping projects on life support costs a lot of money," said the company's director of UK low-carbon solutions hydrogen, Dan Sadler. Equinor has spent "hundreds of millions" on its proposals for CCS-based hydrogen production, electrolytic hydrogen production, transport and storage infrastructure, he said. Sadler made the same appeal 12 months ago but has still received no update on the timing for the so-called "track 1 expansion process" which would allow its CCS-hydrogen project to move ahead. Optimism over the "fantastic" Teesside FID and contracts signed with three electrolytic projects must be balanced against concerns that HyNet has not reached FID nor have any of the UK's CCS-based hydrogen plants , Sadler said. On electrolytic hydrogen, the UK missed its deadline to shortlist winners of second round projects in 2024. Multiple electrolysis-focused developers at the Leeds conference talked of "standstill" in the sector, while financiers echoed the importance of the UK's second hydrogen allocation round (HAR2) shortlist. "We're waiting with bated breath for HAR2 so we know which projects we can look to finance," UK-based National Wealth Fund's managing director of banking and investments, Emily Sidhu, said. Opening applications for the UK's subsidy scheme for hydrogen pipeline and storage infrastructure has slipped to the fourth quarter of this year, which means it could be many months into 2026 before winners are selected and years until the projects get built. UK pipeline operators envy the government support that peers in continental Europe have received and have been trying to alert London about what companies perceive to be unduly arduous permitting processes, one pipeline firm told Argus . Emperor's new clothes The funding appeals come at a difficult time. The Labour government, which was elected last year, is reviewing spending across all departments, creating extra doubt. The total cost of the UK's ambitions for hydrogen and CCS would surpass several times over the £21.7bn ($27.3bn) for CCS and £2bn for electrolytic hydrogen that the government has confirmed for the first rounds. While raising funds from the government, the Emissions Trading System (ETS) or the so-called gas shipper obligation are possibilities, it is not sufficiently clear to give confidence to investors, Equinor's Sadler said. Moreover, the Labour administration has not said if it will stick to the former Conservative government's targets, Sadler noted. "It's rhetoric. Government policy for hydrogen and CCS? There isn't any. People quote 10GW [hydrogen production] and four [CCS] clusters by 2030 and 30mn t/yr [CO2 sequestration] by 2030. That's the Tory [Conservative] policy, the Labour government hasn't got a policy at the moment," Sadler said. The industry's belief in the UK as an investment proposition cannot be sustained forever, he said. The UK's Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has not responded to questions about the Labour government's hydrogen targets. By Aidan Lea Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

German heating oil sales in February higher on the year


25/02/17
25/02/17

German heating oil sales in February higher on the year

Hamburg, 17 February (Argus) — German heating oil sales in February are up from the same month last year, mainly driven by colder weather. Diesel demand, on the other hand, is down. Heating oil volumes submitted to Argus in the week ending 14 February held steady compared with the week prior. But volumes in the first half of February have been around 70pc higher than in the same period in 2024, and many buyers' tank levels are very low. Temperatures in most regions of Germany in February were 1.1-2.1°C lower than the 1991-2020 average, according to weather information website Wetterkontor. Average consumer stock levels were just over 51pc on 12 February, according to Argus MDX. This is not unusually low for the time of year, but is 1.2 percentage points below the same day in 2024. Traded diesel volumes in February to date are around 15pc lower than in the first half of February 2024. Traders attribute this to worsening economic conditions and an increase in bankruptcies. The production index for the manufacturing sector in December was at its lowest since May 2020. Increasing use of alternative fuels such as HVO100 could also be linked declining diesel demand, at least regionally, although only to a small extent. HVO100 sales in Germany are gradually increasing, and Argus estimates that around 15,000m³ (around 3,150 b/d) are sold per month. Meanwhile, 65,000 b/d of diesel arrived in northern German ports in February. This is an increase of around 68pc compared with January. Of the arrivals this month, 40pc came from India. These are the first cargo deliveries from the Jamnagar refinery in India to northern Germany since November 2024. By Johannes Guhlke Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Japan’s economy grows in 2024


25/02/17
25/02/17

Japan’s economy grows in 2024

Osaka, 17 February (Argus) — Japan's economy expanded for a fourth consecutive year in 2024 as corporate investment increased, even as oil product demand fell. Gross domestic product (GDP) rose at an annualised rate of 2.8pc in October-December, according to preliminary government data released on 17 February, following growth of 1.7pc in July-September and 3pc in April-June. This sent Japan's full-year 2024 GDP up by 0.1pc from a year earlier, its fourth straight year of growth after a Covid-19 induced slump in 2020. Nominal GDP amount totalled ¥609.3 trillion ($4 trillion) in 2024, exceeding ¥600 trillion for the first time. Investment by private-sector companies rose by 1.2pc from a year earlier in 2024, recording annualised growth of 1.9pc in October-December. The rise partially reflected a government push for a green and digital transformation of the economy in line with its 2050 net-zero emission goal. Such spending is expected to continue to increase under Tokyo's economic stimulus package. Japanese business federation Keidanren has forecast that nominal capital investment could rise to ¥115 trillion in the April 2027 to March 2028 fiscal year, up by 7.5pc from an estimated ¥107 trillion in 2024-25. But private consumption, which accounts for more than 50pc of GDP, dropped by 0.1pc from a year earlier in 2024, as inflation capped spending by consumers. This also probably weighed on demand for oil products such as gasoline, despite government subsidies. Japan's domestic oil product sales averaged 2.4mn b/d in 2024, down by 5.2pc from a year earlier, according to data from the trade and industry ministry Meti. Gasoline sales, which accounted for 31pc of the total, dropped by 2.2pc to 752,700 b/d over the same period. But Japanese electricity demand edged up by 0.7pc year on year to an average of 98.8GW in 2024, according to nationwide transmission system operator the Organisation for Cross-regional Co-ordination of Transmission Operators. Stronger power demand reflected colder than normal weather in March and unusually hot weather in October. Japan's real GDP is predicted to rise by 1.2pc during the 2025-26 fiscal year, following predicted 0.4pc growth in 2024-25 and a 0.7pc rise in 2023-24, the Cabinet Office said on 24 January. The figures are the Cabinet Office's official estimates and form the basis of its economic and fiscal management policies. By Motoko Hasegawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Japan’s Mitsubishi Chemical to produce recycled PE, PP


25/02/17
25/02/17

Japan’s Mitsubishi Chemical to produce recycled PE, PP

Tokyo, 17 February (Argus) — Japanese petrochemical producer Mitsubishi Chemical plans to demonstrate production of recycled polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) at its chemical recycling plant in eastern prefecture Ibaraki from this summer. Mitsubishi Chemical and its five recycled plastic supply chain partners — the city of Kashima in Ibaraki, recycled material producer Refinverse, package manufacturer Toyo Seikan, food supplier Kewpie and Ibaraki-based supermarket operator Kasumi — signed an agreement on 14 February to collaborate in demonstrating recycled plastic production and supply. The firms will collect waste plastics within Ibaraki for processing to produce oil, which will be used to manufacture recycled plastics such as lids of sauce bottles for supply to the market before being collected from end users as waste plastics for chemical recycling. Mitsubishi Chemical will use its chemical recycling plant in the Kashima petrochemical complex in Ibaraki for this circular economy project. The firm completed construction of the plant in November 2024 and has been conducting a trial run to turn waste plastics into regenerated oils. Mitsubishi Chemical's subsidiaries Japan Polyethylene and Japan Polypropylene will be in charge of manufacturing PE and PP from the recycled oil. The demonstration will continue until June 2026. But the timeline for this project and its Kashima chemical recycling plant beyond this, including targets for commercial operations, was not disclosed. Mitsubishi Chemical initially aimed to start commercial operation of the plant, which can process 20,000 t/yr waste plastics to generate around 12,000-16,000 t/yr of regenerated oil, by the April 2023-March 2024 fiscal year. But construction was postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic and delays in deliveries of equipment amid the Ukraine-Russia conflict. By Nanami Oki Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

German election impacts on energy and mobility sectors


25/02/17
25/02/17

German election impacts on energy and mobility sectors

Hamburg, 17 February (Argus) — Germany heads to the polls on 23 February, with its political parties divided over how to revive the country's struggling economy and shape climate policy in the face of continued concern over high energy costs. How the next government's policies are shaped could significantly impact regional energy markets and Germany's role as a key player in the European economy over the next four years. But most parties appear in agreement over maintaining the outgoing government's stance on Russian gas. Opinion polls suggest that support for the conservative CDU/CSU party has cooled in recent months, but it is still expected to be tasked with forming the next government. It is all but impossible for one party to win an absolute majority in the German parliament, so parties typically have to form a coalition. Support for the far-right AfD has grown in recent months, but the party still trails by some distance in second place. The CDU/CSU says it will not form a coalition with the AfD, so barring a dramatic surge in support for the latter in the final days of campaigning, a CDU-led coalition — possibly including the Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens — is likely to be in charge by the end of the month. The AfD's stance on energy and climate change is largely at odds with most other parties, but the CDU/CSU, SPD and Greens have some common ground. They all acknowledge the Paris climate agreement and EU Green Deal and seek to adhere to emissions reduction mandates, and they all plan to extend the scope of the EU emissions trading system (ETS). The three parties' manifestos chime on a need to reduce energy prices — which are widely seen as a key factor in the downturn in German industrial output — while transitioning to cleaner forms of transport and prioritising climate protection. But the parties diverge on how best to achieve these goals. Many energy-intensive industries in Germany have struggled with high gas prices since Russia embarked on its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The three parties all say they will bring down energy prices by adjusting taxes and subsidies, and increasing power generation. The parties aim to cut network fees and electricity taxes as much as possible within the EU, and the SPD and Greens plan to encourage the European Commission to compensate energy-intensive industries for high power prices. The three all agree that further expanding renewable energy is the best way to reduce energy prices but, unlike the SPD and Greens, the CDU/CSU is unwilling to close coal-fired power plants until they are replaced, and it wants to assess whether it is technically and financially feasible to reactivate mothballed nuclear power plants. The AfD wants to expand coal-fired and nuclear generation and halt the expansion of solar and wind. Gas goals The CDU/CSU, SPD and Greens all support replacing fossil gas with hydrogen in power generation and manufacturing in the near future. How soon that can happen is up in the air. Industrial groups have cited hydrogen's high costs and constantly changing legal framework as barriers to its expansion, calling for the simplification of national and EU hydrogen legislation, the continuation of subsidies for domestic production, and more consumer incentives to substitute natural gas. But the CDU/CSU also wants to reverse the gas boiler ban introduced by the outgoing government, which mandated that new buildings install heating systems using at least 65pc renewable energy from January 2024. Instead, it proposes subsidising low-emission heating solutions — regardless of the technology on which they are based. If implemented, this could check the decline in residential gas demand, although gas consumption is likely to become less attractive after the heating and road sectors are included in the EU ETS from 2027, pushing gas costs up. The CDU/CSU has made it clear that it intends to continue adhering to the Paris and EU climate agreements, but says this is conditional on the "competitiveness of the German economy" and "social load limits". The AfD not only seeks to end putting a price on CO2 emissions altogether, it also wants to undo the EU emission reduction mandates as a whole. Crucially, none of the potential coalition partners plans to reverse course on Russian gas — unlike the AfD, which is calling for the lifting of all sanctions on Russia, including those on gas and oil imports into the EU. The AfD also intends to reopen the undamaged pipe B of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to restart flows of Russian gas to Europe, and repair and reopen the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipes that were damaged in September 2022. Vorsprung durch technik? On the question of the future of mobility in Germany, there is significant disagreement between the parties that might find themselves in a coalition government. While the SPD and Green party believe that e-mobility will be most relevant and want to maintain the ban on registering internal combustion engine (Ice) cars from 2035, the CDU and AfD advocate for "technology openness" and want to reverse these agreements. The SPD says that it wants Germany to remain a leader in car manufacturing, but with its focus on electric vehicles (EVs). In order to encourage consumers to buy EVs that are "made in Germany", it proposes tax cuts for domestically manufactured units. This might be a lesson learned from unintended consequences of the general subsidy for EV purchases that was phased out at the end of 2023 — this was as beneficial for foreign EV manufacturers as domestic ones. The Green party supports the same tax cuts, provided the car is mostly manufactured within Europe. The SPD and Green party also believe that eFuels should primarily be used in aviation or shipping, rather than on the road. They aim to establish a climate-neutral European aviation sector through rules to prevent ‘carbon leakage', with the Greens even aiming to make domestic flights unnecessary. The Conservatives and the AfD take a completely different approach — they believe that the market should decide which mode of mobility will prevail. Based on this belief, their main goal is to reverse the EU policy of banning new Ice car registrations from 2035. The CDU and AfD instead both aim to make Ice cars — probably running on eFuels — a financially competitive alternative to EVs. They do not believe it is the government's responsibility to influence markets in one way or another. For the AfD, this extends to not using public funds to finance vehicle charging infrastructure. The two parties also agree that EU fleet emission limits, or at least associated penalties, should be abolished to avoid subjecting the German car manufacturing industry to additional pressure. The CDU's lead in the polls — and the performance of the AfD — reflects the priorities of Germany's voters, which are focused most heavily on immigration and the state of the economy, with energy and climate policies much further down the list. The CDU leads approval ratings on expected handling of economic issues. So the party's view on how far Germany's shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy dovetails with reviving economic competitiveness could play a role in dictating the pace of the energy transition in Europe's largest economy in the years ahead. By Johannes Guhlke German power generation mix GW Change in gas demand by sector, y-o-y GWh/d German gas demand by year Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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