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
21 July Oman green ammonia site gets $488mn, nears construction Indian renewables developer Acme has secured a 40bn Indian rupee ($488mn) loan for the first phase of its green ammonia plant in Oman, where construction will begin soon, the company said.
20 July Egypt to resume LNG exports in October Egypt will resume LNG exports in October, the country's oil and mineral resources minister Tarek El-Molla said, as high temperatures continue to bolster the country's domestic gas consumption.
19 July WinGD targets 2025 for ammonia dual-fuelled engine Switzerland-based marine engine producer Winterthur Gas & Diesel (WinGD) expects to deliver its first dual-fuel ammonia engines in early 2025.
19 July Abu Dhabi, Japan's Jera to study blue ammonia, hydrogen Abu Dhabi's state-owned Adnoc and Japanese power producer Jera will explore establishing blue ammonia and hydrogen value chains to expand business opportunities.
19 July Share of biodiesel in German fuel mix at 13-month high The share of biodiesel in Germany's transport fuel mix rose to a 13-month high in April, according to the latest data from the country's export control authority Bafa, as comparatively low European biodiesel prices continued to support physical blending.
19 July Port of Tacoma moves net zero target up to 2040 The Port of Tacoma, Washington, voted unanimously to move its target to cut greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) up by 10 years to 2040.
19 July Industry notes Europe's commitment issues on LNG European policy makers are seeking secure and stable gas supply, but are reluctant to make commitments in the long term because of the region's decarbonisation targets and competition from Asia.
18 July EU biodiesel imports rise to 14-month high: Eurostat A sharp month-on-month increase in arrivals of biodiesel cargoes from China lifted EU imports in May to the highest since March last year. China remained the largest origin for imports from outside the bloc.
18 July Japan's Jera, Kogas collaborate to reduce LNG emissions Japan's largest LNG importer Jera and South Korea's state-owned Kogas will collaborate to reduce methane emissions through their LNG value chains, to further utilise the fuel on the pathway to their net zero goals.
18 July CNOOC completes trial LNG bunkering in Guangzhou Chinese state-controlled energy firm CNOOC completed a trial LNG bunker operation in the southern city of Guangzhou on 14 July.
18 July Methanol marine fuel hurdles persist: Report The technology to adopt methanol as an alternative marine fuel is readily available even as obstacles are still present, including its pricing and availability as a green fuel, according to a report by maritime classification society Lloyd's Register (LR).
18 July China Gas to buy and charter two LNG carriers Chinese gas distributor China Gas has set up a joint venture which intends to buy two LNG vessels, which are then intended to be leased to China Gas on a 20-year term upon delivery.
17 July Indonesia raises 2H July palm export taxes, levies Indonesia has increased export duties and levies on palm oil products for the second half of July, after the crude palm oil (CPO) reference price for the same period moved up to more than $780/t, triggering the higher band of taxes.
17 July Shell deploys new Americas LNG bunkering ship Shell has deployed a new LNG bunkering vessel that will be used to refuel LNG-powered ships in the Americas.
17 July Hong Kong firms finish biofuel bunker operation Hong Kong-based Banle Energy, ASB Biodiesel and Seven Seas Oil completed their first B24 biofuel bunkering operation in Hong Kong.
17 July WFS refuels LNG to Hapag-Lloyd ship in China US fuel supplier World Fuel Services (WFS) has finished its first LNG refueling operation in China for shipping company Hapag-Lloyd.
17 July OCI fuels container vessel with renewable methanol Methanol supplier OCI Global said today it has bunkered the first methanol-fuelled container ship with its OCI HyFuels ISCC certified green methanol.
Conventional marine fuels
21 July KPC seeks trading firm to market Al-Zour LSFO: Sources Kuwait's state-controlled refiner KPC has reached out to several trading firms for help with marketing low-sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) from its 615,000 b/d Al-Zour refinery, according to traders.
21 July Ship-to-ship to ease Brazilian port fuel flow Positive results from ship-to-ship (STS) transfer tests at the Itaqui port, a major fuel hub in Maranhao state, should ease congestion related to gasoline and diesel offloadings in August-September, potentially reducing costs for importers.
21 July Malaysian Pengerang refinery hit by RFCC issue: Sources An unspecified issue has likely affected operations at a residual fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC) at Malaysia's 300,000 b/d Pengerang refinery, sources familiar with its operations told Argus.
20 July Jamaica finances troubled Kingston oil refinery Jamaica is giving state-owned oil refiner Petrojam $33mn to support operations in its troubled 35,000 b/d Kingston plant after local finance houses refused the provide loans, finance minister Nigel Clarke said yesterday.
20 July ARA fuel oil stocks at six-week low Independently-held oil product stocks at the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) oil trading hub shed 1pc in the week to 19 July, according to consultancy Insights Global. The downturn was driven by a drop of nearly 10pc in fuel oil inventories to 1.26mn t on the week, their lowest since the first week of June.
19 July Med HSFO price jump could stymie bitumen flows to NWE A steady stream of bitumen cargoes moving from the Mediterranean to northwest Europe could be under threat from a sharp jump in fuel oil values to which bitumen seaborne trade are closely tied. This has reanimated discussions in the market about the close relationship between the two.
19 July Port of Tacoma moves net zero target up to 2040 The Port of Tacoma, Washington, voted unanimously to move its target to cut greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) up by 10 years to 2040.
19 July Issues at Rhineland refinery tighten diesel supply Problems at Shell's 404,000 b/d Pernis refinery in Rotterdam and low river Rhine water levels are hampering the supply of diesel from ARA into Germany.
18 July Iraq to swap HSFO, crude for Iranian gas The crude-for-gas swap deal that Iraq and Iran agreed earlier this week will involve a quantity of high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO), a source with knowledge of the matter has told Argus.
18 July VDU offline at Shell's Pernis refinery: Traders One of two vacuum distillation units (VDU) has been offline at Shell's 404,000 b/d Pernis refinery in Rotterdam since Saturday, 15 July, according to market participants.
18 July Canal delays boost US MR tanker rates Rates for some medium-range (MR) clean products tankers from the US Gulf coast have risen by nearly 50pc since last Friday as lengthy Panama Canal wait times contributed to tight tonnage in the region.
18 July KPI bunker sales boosted by demand and digitalisation Denmark-based bunker fuel trader KPI OceanConnect has reported a sharp increase in revenue for its 2022-23 financial year, boosted by rising demand and increasingly sophisticated digitalisation.
17 July OCI fuels container vessel with renewable methanol Methanol supplier OCI Global said today it has bunkered the first methanol-fuelled container ship with its OCI HyFuels ISCC certified green methanol.
17 July Weak demand weighs on Singapore's June bunker sales Bunker fuel sales in the key hub of Singapore fell by 13pc on the month in June in line with weaker demand, according to data from the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA).
17 July Mideast boosts Russian fuel oil imports in 1H Russian was the top supplier of high-sulphur (HSFO) and low-sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) fuel oil to the Mideast Gulf in the first half of the year, with 5.11mn t.
17 July Typhoon likely to hit south China freight operations Freight operations could be impacted and costs rise as a result of Typhoon Talim making landfall over south China late on 17 July.
