Australian firms raise gasoil stocks to meet obligation

: Oil products
26/02/16

Australian fuel companies have increased their storage levels of gasoil over the past two years (see graph) to comply with Australia's minimum stockholding obligation (MSO).

Fuel suppliers are required to report stocks every Tuesday and Friday prove compliance with the MSO under federal law. Suppliers subject to the MSO can paper trade S-21 tickets with other importers to ensure compliance. An S-21 ticket is a ticket for one litre of gasoil. Stocks can be held in Australia and on water inside Australia's exclusive economic zone.

Weekly MSO reporting applies to 10 firms for gasoil, eight for gasoline and six for jet fuel. Together, these companies represent 99pc of Australia's total refined and imported gasoline, 100pc of kerosene/jet fuel and 98pc of gasoil, based on 2023 volumes used to set the MSO. MSO firms are those which have either imported, refined or handled a combination of these methods for one or more transport fuels for a year, at volumes exceeding 250mn litres for gasoil, 200mn litres for gasoline and 250mn litres for kerosene.

All 10 gasoil-reporting companies met their obligation in the third quarter of 2025, latest data Australian Petroleum Statistics (APS) show. One supplier failed to meet the regulation in the April-June quarter, according to APS.

Gasoil remains the tightest market for MSO compliance and the requirement became more stringent after the mandated gasoil stock levels increased from 1 July 2025 to 32 days of cover for importers and 20 days for refiners Viva Energy and Ampol.

Total stocks held by industry under the MSO in 2024-25 equalled 33 days of consumption for gasoil, 39 days for gasoline and 31 for kerosene, based on typical demand.

By Tom Woodlock

Australia's MSO gasoil stocks (mn litres)

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26/02/16

Rhine river freight rates fall as water levels rise

Hamburg, 16 February (Argus) — Rhine river freight rates in Germany have fallen sharply as rising water levels and weak barge demand eased supply logistics for Germany's middle distillate market. Freight from the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) hub dropped on 12 February by €0.17/100l to Cologne, €0.68/100l to Karlsruhe and €0.72/100l to Frankfurt, while rates to Basel in Switzerland fell by SFr1.27/100l. Reductions were steepest on the Upper Rhine, where vessels are again loading to full draft after weeks of constraints linked to low water levels and lock closures. Water depths at the critical bottleneck near Kaub are closing in on 4m and are forecast to remain at this higher level throughout February, data from the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration show. Domestic demand is weak, adding to a comfortable supply picture. Warmer temperatures in the week to 15 February pushed heating oil spot demand down by around 20pc on the week. Privately owned heating oil tanks are filled to about 51pc, Argus MDX data show. National average heating oil prices were stable, adding no further buying incentive. Diesel consumption dropped after a brief uptick in the previous week, with spot volumes running about 10pc below year-earlier levels so far in 2026. Market participants cite reduced truck mileage and an elevated number of insolvencies in the transport sector as persistent structural headwinds. The operators of the Bayernoil joint venture's 207,000 b/d Vohburg-Neustadt refinery in Bavaria have taken the Neustadt plant offline for scheduled maintenance. Operators expect works to last six weeks, during which time the plant will remain offline. Suppliers at the refinery had started to hold back spot and term supplies several weeks ago to build up inventories for the maintenance. Trading firm Gunvor will take its nearby 100,000 b/d Ingolstadt refinery offline for maintenance at the end of this month, further restricting availability in southern Germany. By Natalie Müller Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Japan's economy rebounds in October-December 2025

26/02/16

Japan's economy rebounds in October-December 2025

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Singapore's bunker sales rise on strong demand in Jan

26/02/16

Singapore's bunker sales rise on strong demand in Jan

Singapore, 16 February (Argus) — Total bunker sales at the port of Singapore climbed by 17pc on the year to 5.23mn t in January, on the back of strong demand for conventional marine fuels, according to preliminary estimated data by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA). The year started with firm demand growth for conventional fuels, which still constitutes 98pc of the total consumption in Singapore. The number of vessel arrivals to the city-state rose by over 12pc on the year to 12,031 vessels in January, and the number of bunker vessel arrivals in Singapore also rose by 5.5pc on the year to 3,778. Meanwhile, demand for alternative marine fuels lagged. Consumption fell by 29pc on the year, extending a downtrend from December when volumes fell by 35pc. Weak regulatory push, on the back of the deferment of IMO's Net-Zero Framework (NZF) in October 2025, coupled with poor margins for biofuel blends has pushed ship-owners to the sidelines to procure on an as-needed basis. Several of these ship-owners are procuring green fuels to meet compliance requirements, mainly set by the 2pc requirement from FuelEU Maritime, said market participants. The IMO's deferment of NZF has had a knock-on impact on green fuel projects, newbuild timelines and other investments made by the sector in Asia, and this is expected to weigh on consumption in the medium term, they added. Most are hoping that IMO will introduce or push policies in its meetings, like the upcoming MEPC84 later this year, and re-energise a sector that is still reeling from the impact of the slowdown in regulatory push. Biofuel blends Biofuel blends continued to make up more than 50pc of the total 103,100t of alternative marine fuels bunkered in January. A total of 60,200t of biofuel blends, consisting of used cooking oil methyl ester (Ucome) blended with conventional fuel oils, was delivered in January. This was down by 34pc on the month, and 44pc lower on the year. Among biofuel blends, demand for B24 and B30 very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) blends halved on the year to 46,000t. This is 35pc lower from the previous month. Consumption of high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) blends, which tripled on the year in 2025, also showed signs of slower demand in 2026. January consumption of B24 and B30 HSFO blends were at 14,300t, down by 11pc on the year. Demand for LNG as a bunker fuel rose by 30pc on the year to 42,600t in January, but was down by 22pc on the month. Overall demand for LNG is expected to be robust, backed by arrivals of newbuilds. LNG dual-fuelled newbuilds continue to dominate the order books, and demand for LNG and bio-LNG is expected to emerge in the coming year. LNG consumption for bunkering rose by 24pc to 571,400t on the year in 2025. In conventional fuels, demand for HSFO strengthened in January, continuing an uptrend from 2025, because more buyers leaned towards this lower-priced fuel instead of VLSFO. January HSFO sales hit a record high of 2.16mn t since the implementation of the 0.5pc sulphur cap in 2020, and consumption rose by 30pc on the year by almost 2pc from December. VLSFO demand was firm, but the increase was not as strong as HSFO. January sales rose by 5.3pc on the year to 2.56mn t. This was down by 9.5pc on the month. In the low-sulphur marine gasoil (LSMGO) segment, demand was also strong and sales jumped by nearly 57pc on the year to 402,100t, but eased by 2.1pc on the month. By Mahua Mitra and Cassia Teo Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

US climate rollback set to raise gasoline prices

26/02/13

US climate rollback set to raise gasoline prices

Washington, 13 February (Argus) — US president Donald Trump's elimination of all federal greenhouse gas standards on cars and trucks could raise gasoline prices by as much as 29pc by 2050, according to projections prepared by his own administration. That higher spending on fuel, along with other effects caused by repealing the tailpipe standards, would result in net losses for consumers of about $180bn through 2055, according to a primary scenario the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published on Thursday in support of its regulatory rollback. The agency's "Scenario A1" shows gasoline prices rising by 75¢/USG by 2050, in constant dollar terms, as a result of higher fuel demand coming from less fuel-efficient but cheaper cars and trucks. Trump on Thursday cited what he said were "trillions of dollars" in cost savings as a reason for repealing tailpipe standards. But EPA's own modeling shows the potential savings to consumers would be far less, or even result in net costs for consumers. That is before accounting for adverse health consequences caused by air pollution or effects of climate change. "By EPA's own analysis, American families will pay billions more in fuel costs. To make matters even worse, many people will be burdened with increased healthcare costs from the increase in air pollution that vehicles will be allowed to spew," said Katherine García, director of Sierra Club's Clean Transportation for All Campaign. EPA administrator Lee Zeldin said on Thursday that the tailpipe rollback would "eliminate over $1.3 trillion of regulatory costs", a figure pulled from agency projections largely focused on savings from lower vehicle prices through 2055. But that headline figure disregards key costs under the rollback, such as additional spending on fuel and repairs that would total nearly $1.5 trillion over the same time span, dwarfing the potential savings, agency modeling shows. The extra fuel demand from the rollback has been welcome news for oil producers, who contend EPA's tailipe standards forced consumers to purchase electric vehicles and other models they did not want. Before the rollback, the US Energy Information Administration's reference case in its Annual Energy Outlook showed fuel demand from light-duty vehicles falling to 4.9mn b/d by 2050, down from 8.3mn b/d this year. Oil groups have cheered the demise of EPA's vehicle greenhouse gas standards, even as they push to retain emission standards for oil and gas facilities. "EPA properly concludes that the Clean Air Act does not provide it with the authority to regulate certain greenhouse gas emissions," Independent Petroleum Association of America chief executive Edith Naegele said. EPA prepared alternative scenarios that show increased benefits from the rollback. In technical documents released on Thursday, EPA said "Scenario AI" does account for policies Trump is taking "to drive down the price of gasoline and diesel", so it modeled an alternative scenario where oil prices plunge to $47/bl by 2050, compared with a reference case of $91/bl. In that price scenario, net savings would reach $250bn by 2055. EPA also created scenarios showing even higher savings by assuming consumers only cared about the first 2.5 years of fuel savings when buying a more fuel-efficient vehicle. None of EPA's cost-benefit scenarios accounted for any of the negative health effects of more air pollution, or damage from climate change. Under a recent policy change, EPA assigned a value of $0 for all adverse health effects of regulatory changes. EPA expects the rollback will increase greenhouse gas emissions by 8.3bn metric tonnes of CO2-equivalent, equivalent to about 1.5 years of greenhouse gas emissions from the US. By Chris Knight Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Dangote CDU restarts, test runs on RFCC due next week

26/02/12

Dangote CDU restarts, test runs on RFCC due next week

London, 12 February (Argus) — The Dangote refinery's 650,000 b/d crude distillation unit (CDU) in Nigeria is operating again after maintenance, while the gasoline-producing residual fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC) is expected to begin test runs next week ahead of restarting, chief executive David Bird said. The CDU received 170,000 bl of crude on 8 February, followed by 450,000 bl on 9 February and 537,000 bl on 10 February, according to industry sources and a source at the refinery. Bird said this week that the CDU was "operating steadily at the full nameplate capacity of 650,000 b/d". The highest throughput achieved as of 20 January was 570,000 b/d, according to an internal company report seen by Argus at the time. The CDU was offline for around two weeks from 24 January for maintenance. Dangote imported intermediate products during the outage to maintain supply to customers. Bird's reference to the 650,000 b/d nameplate figure suggests that planned de-bottlenecking work — expected to lift capacity to 700,000 b/d — has not yet been completed. The RFCC, which has been offline since December, is scheduled to begin "performance test runs" next week, Bird said. The naphtha hydrotreater, isomerisation unit and catalytic reformer — which Dangote groups together as the "motor spirit block" — were running this week but had not yet reached full capacity following January maintenance, an industry source told Argus . Dangote told Argus on 11 February that "full restoration and optimisation" of the motor spirit block had been achieved. By Adebiyi Olusolape Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Australian firms raise gasoil stocks to meet obligation

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