ESG, MPA, MAS assure that Hin Leong won't hit oil trading and bunkering sectors

Oil trading and bunkering sectors remain resilient despite drop in demand.

Enterprise Singapore (ESG), the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) noted that the oil trading and bunkering industries remain stable even as Hin Leong gets buried in a multi-billion debt, an announcement revealed.

They also assured that they are closely monitoring developments related to Hin Leong Trading. ESG assessed that the oil trading sector remains resilient despite the drop in global demand for energy whilst MPA assessed no serious impact on the bunkering industry.

In addition, the oil sector has more than 130 companies that trade energy products whilst the bunkering sector is well diversified with 43 other licensed bunker suppliers, including Minerva Bunker and TFG Marine which recently received their licences.

However, they warned that there may be some short-term minor disruptions due to the lapse of contractual obligations by Ocean Bunkering Services and Hin Leong Marine International, which is related to UT Singapore Services Private Limited. Meanwhile, Universal Terminals is operated independently of Hin Leong despite being owned by UT Singapore Services by common shareholdings.

ESG and MPA will continue to work with stakeholders to ensure that Singapore’s supply chain for oil products and bunkering operations continue to function without disruption.

MAS is also in close contact with the banks on developments related to Hin Leong and has reminded them not to de-risk indiscriminately from the bunkering and oil trading sectors. However, banks should continue to apply judicious credit assessment on individual borrowers to manage risks.