Rotterdam LNG bunkering sales continue growth

Sales of LNG as a marine fuel at the Dutch port of Rotterdam continued to grow in the second quarter of 2020, rising to around four times as much as a year earlier.

The port's LNG bunkering sales rose to around 58,500m³ (26,400t) from 14,000m³ (6,340t) in April-June 2019, and 35,200m³ (15,900t) in the first quarter of 2020.

LNG expanded its share of the bunkering market as sales of traditional marine fuels, such as fuel oil and marine gasoil, dropped compared with a year earlier — likely as a result of reduced vessel activity in the region following the outbreak of Covid-19, which may also have capped the growth in LNG bunkering.

Prices for LNG as a marine fuel remained below the cost of other International Maritime Organisation-compliant marine fuels throughout the second quarter of the year, which likely supported growth in LNG bunker sales, although the differential narrowed significantly in April as traditional marine fuels tracked oil prices down. The Argus-assessed LNG delivered on board (dob) price for northwest Europe held a discount of just 44¢/mn Btu to the price of bunker gasoil with a 0.1pc sulphur content at the end of April, but the differential has widened since. The LNG dob price averaged $4.72/mn Btu over April-June, before rising to an average of $4.84/mn Btu in July.

But growth in the LNG bunkering market was on course to fall short of previous expectations this year. Rotterdam LNG bunker sales totalled around 93,700m³ (42,300t) in the first half of this year, having previously been expected to reach 300,000 t/yr in the whole of 2020.

By Samuel Good

Rotterdam LNG bunker sales t