Vitol Builds Refinery for New Ship's Fuel

MarineLink
Monday, June 24, 2019

Vitol, the world's largest independent oil trader, has started building a small oil refinery at its storage terminal in Malaysia that will provide low-sulfur fuel for ships, a senior company official said on Monday.

The project consists of a crude distillation unit that can process 30,000 barrels per day of crude and is located on the same site as Vitol's oil storage terminal at Tanjung Bin in the southern Malaysian state of Johor, Vitol Asia's President and Chief Executive Officer Kho Hui Meng said.

A construction unit under China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) is handling the project which will involve moving a second-hand CDU from China to the site, he said on the sidelines of the Asia Oil & Gas Conference.

The project is expected to be completed in May 2020 and will augment Vitol's refinery in Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates in providing low-sulfur fuel oil for ships, Kho said.

The global shipping industry will switch to marine fuel, known as bunker fuel, containing 0.5% sulphur or less from the start of 2020, down from the current 3.5%, as mandated by the International Maritime Organization.

Companies such as Germany's Uniper and the United Arab Emirates' Brooge Petroleum and Gas Investment Co (BPGIC) are either expanding their plants or building a new refinery in Fujairah, a ship refuelling hub on the east coast of the UAE, to meet rising demand.

The new Malaysian refinery will be able to process a wide variety of low-sulphur oil available in the market including U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude that Vitol trades in, Kho said.

Production of low-sulphur fuel from Vitol's new refining unit will be just in time to meet rising demand as current stockpiles of such fuel in the region would have been drawn down by the middle of next year, he said.

Major oil companies and trading houses are stocking up low-sulfur bunker fuels in anticipation of a surge in demand for the fuel in 2020.

(Reuters reporting by Florence Tan; editing by Christian Schmollinger)

Categories: Fuels & Lubes IMO 2020

Related Stories

Cheniere, JERA Ink Long-Term LNG Sale and Purchase Agreement

Cheniere, JERA Ink Long-Term LNG Sale and Purchase Agreement

Shelf Drilling Lands New Jack-Up Contract in Vietnam, Extends Egypt Deal

Shelf Drilling Lands New Jack-Up Contract in Vietnam, Extends Egypt Deal

Inpex Picks FEED Contractors for Abadi LNG Onshore Plant

Inpex Picks FEED Contractors for Abadi LNG Onshore Plant

Inpex Kicks Off FEED Work for Abadi LNG Scheme Offshore Indonesia

Inpex Kicks Off FEED Work for Abadi LNG Scheme Offshore Indonesia

ADNOC Signs Long-Term LNG Deal with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation

ADNOC Signs Long-Term LNG Deal with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation

Pandion Energy Divests Interests in Three Norwegian Assets to Inpex

Pandion Energy Divests Interests in Three Norwegian Assets to Inpex

EnQuest Acquires Harbour Energy’s Vietnamese Assets

EnQuest Acquires Harbour Energy’s Vietnamese Assets

Woodside Finds South Korean Partners to Advance LNG Value Chain

Woodside Finds South Korean Partners to Advance LNG Value Chain

Valeura Makes Progress with Multi-Well Drilling Campaign in Gulf of Thailand

Valeura Makes Progress with Multi-Well Drilling Campaign in Gulf of Thailand

PTTEP Hires Energy Drilling’s Rig for Southeast Asia Offshore Job

Current News

Cheniere, JERA Ink Long-Term LNG Sale and Purchase Agreement

Shelf Drilling Lands New Jack-Up Contract in Vietnam, Extends Egypt Deal

Seatrium Engages Axess Group to Clear FPSOs for Brazil Deployment

Inpex Picks FEED Contractors for Abadi LNG Onshore Plant

Inpex Kicks Off FEED Work for Abadi LNG Scheme Offshore Indonesia

ADNOC Signs Long-Term LNG Deal with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation

Sapura Energy Rebrands to Vantris Energy

BP, ONGC, Reliance Industries Ink Deal for Offshore Exploration in India

Allseas-Boskalis Consortium Bags $1.4B Offshore Gas Pipeline Job in Taiwan

CNOOC Brings New Offshore Gas Field On Stream

photo

Subscribe for AOG Digital E‑News

AOG Digital E-News is the subsea industry's largest circulation and most authoritative ENews Service, delivered to your Email three times per week

https://accounts.newwavemedia.com