Argentinian VLSFO bunker demand up 86pc in 1Q

Argentinian very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) sales rose by 86pc in the first quarter, driven by the 2020 global marine fuel sulphur regulation according to Argentina's Petroleum and Gas Institute.

Sales reached 319,374t in the quarter ended 31 March, compared with 171,714t during the same period in 2019.

Argentinian residual fuel oil is produced locally from sweet Argentinian crude and meets the 0.5pc sulphur limit set for marine fuel burned in international waters by the International Maritime Organization starting on 1 January. The fuel does not need to be blended or desulphurized.

Shell sold 98,987t of residual fuel oil for bunkering in Argentina in the first quarter, Trafigura sold 87,677t, YPF sold 80,593t and Pan American Energy sold 52,117t.

Buenos Aires is the biggest bunkering port in Argentina. Buenos Aires' biggest competitors are the ports of Santos and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Buenos Aires VLSFO retail bunkers are not the most price competitive in Latin America. For the period 1-26 May Argus VLSFO assessments showed the Buenos Aires – Santos premium averaged at $41/t and the Buenos Aires – Rio de Janeiro premium averaged at $16/t.

Argentina's marine gasoil (MGO) sales were also up by 47pc to 183,441m3 (about 162,340t) in the first quarter compared with the same period last year. YPF sold 66pc of this quantity, Pan American Energy sold 27pc and Shell sold 7pc.

Exports down and destinations shift

Argentinian VLSFO production was up by 8.7pc or 54,295t to 678,293t in the first quarter compared with the first quarter of 2019. But with domestic VLSFO bunker demand up by 147,660t for the quarter, the country's VLSFO exports declined.

Argentina's VLSFO exports to the US east coast were down, data from oil analytics firm Vortexa showed. But Argentina exported over 70,000t to Panama and over 108,800t to the Netherlands in the first five months of the year, compared with no exports to these locations for calendar 2019 and 2018. Panama is the biggest bunkering hub in the Caribbean and Central America and Rotterdam, the Netherlands is the biggest bunkering port in Europe.

By Stefka Wechsler