SINGAPORE: Sinopec Fuel Oil (Singapore) Pte Ltd goals to lift its month-to-month bunker gross sales volumes by greater than 50 per cent after it acquired a licence from the Singapore authorities this month, the corporate’s common supervisor mentioned on Monday.
Chinese refiners are increasing their foothold within the international marine fuels sector by growing gross sales and output of 0.5 per cent low sulphur gas oil at key ports in Zhoushan, in China, and Singapore in recent times.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) awarded the bunker licence to Sinopec’s Singapore gas oil unit on June 1, the MPA mentioned on its web site, permitting the corporate to make use of its personal fleet to provide gas on to ships.
The firm plans to extend its bunker gross sales by about 50,000 tonnes to about 100,000 to 150,000 tonnes monthly, General Manager of Sinopec Fuel Oil (Singapore) Zhou Jie informed Reuters.
“We will be expanding our focus on the bunkering business further and we are also planning to hire more employees in the bunker field going forward,” mentioned Zhou.
Sinopec Fuel Oil Singapore has three barges, together with two for 0.5 per cent low sulphur gas oil deliveries and one for top sulphur gas oil deliveries, he mentioned.
It goals so as to add one or two extra barges this yr for marine gas oil supply, whereas marine gasoil might be equipped by leasing barges from different suppliers, Zhou mentioned.
The firm doesn’t intend to lease floating storage vessels within the close to time period and would lease onshore tanks as a substitute, he mentioned.
This is the primary bunker provider licence MPA has awarded since April 2020.
The variety of licensed bunker suppliers in Singapore has fallen over the previous 5 years, all the way down to 42 now in contrast with greater than 50 in 2017.
Singapore stays the biggest bunkering hub on the planet, with marine fuels gross sales totalling 49.9 million tonnes in 2021, MPA knowledge confirmed.