Cosmo Oil Builds IMO-compliant Fuel Stocks at Chiba Port

Tom Mulligan
Monday, September 9, 2019

Japan’s third-largest oil refining company, Cosmo Oil, , has started building stocks of very-low-sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO) for supply to domestic marine fuel markets from next month (October 2019) ahead of the IMO 2020 mandate requiring ships globally to reduce their bunker fuel sulfur content to 0.5% from the current 3.5% from January 2020.

Cosmo Oil is using VLSFO produced at its residue desulfurizer (RDS) unit at its Chiba refinery near Tokyo to build the stocks, Cosmo Oil’sPresident Shunichi Tanaka said on Sunday, ahead of the Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC), Asia’s largest oil industry gathering.

“We still have some spare capacity at our residue desulfurizer so we can produce more low-sulfur fuel oil to supply to the bunker market,” stated Cosmo Oil’s President Shunichi Tanaka. This will also reduce the company’s surplus gasoil production, which used to be exported. Residue from the RDS is typically processed further at secondary refining units to become higher-value products such as gasoline and diesel.

The decision to supply VLSFO is part of a growing trend among Asian refiners seeking to capitalize on IMO demand. It is expected that as VLSFO production grows, demand for alternative marine gasoil (MGO) may not be as robust as initially forecast.

An alternative to burning VLSFO or MGO that contain 0.5% sulfur is for ships to add sulfur-removing units (scrubbers) on board so that they can continue using cheap high-sulfur fuel oil (HSFO).

Cosmo Oil has six oil tankers under long-term charter and three of these are fitted with scrubbers and three will use VLSFO. The company is in talks with suppliers to lock in some VLSFO supplies in anticipation of its switch to the new fuel from October. (Source: Reuters)

Categories: Tankers Ports Energy Fuels & Lubes Marine Power Logistics

Related Stories

Sunda Energy Starts Environmental Consultation for Chuditch-2 Well Drilling Plans

Sapura Energy Scoops Close to $9M for O&M Work off Malaysia

Eneos Scoops Jack-Up Drilling Contract Offshore Vietnam

VARD Snags $125M Shipbuilding Deal for Subsea Construction Vessel

Op-Ed: Kazakhstan’s National O&G Firm Positioning Itself as Global Energy Player

CNOOC Sees 11% Profit Growth in 2024 Driven by Record Oil Production

MODEC and Samsung Team Up to Install Carbon Capture Tech on FPSO

Six New Gas Wells in Line for BP’s Shah Deniz Field in Caspian Sea

EnQuest to Acquire Harbour Energy's Vietnamese Assets

ADES’ Fourth Suspended Jack-Up Rig Gets Work Offshore Thailand

Current News

EnQuest Bags Two Production Sharing Contracts off Indonesia

Hanwha Drilling’s Tidal Action Drillship En Route to Petrobras’ Roncador Field

China's ENN, Zhenhua Oil Ink LNG Supply Deals with ADNOC

MODEC Wins ExxonMobil Guyana’s Hammerhead FPSO Contract

Mitigate SCC & HE to Keep Offshore Metal Structures Ship Shape

India Stretches Bids Deadline for 13 Offshore Deep-Sea Mineral Blocks

Indonesia Awards Oil and Gas Blocks to Boost Reserves

Sapura Energy Nets $22.6M in Offshore Support Vessel Contracts

CNOOC Puts Into Production New Oil Field in South China Sea

Sunda Energy Starts Environmental Consultation for Chuditch-2 Well Drilling Plans

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