Singapore Refining Company supplies low-sulphur marine fuel cargo

Stricter bunker fuel standards will require oils to have less than 0.5% sulphur.

Reuters reported that Singapore Refining Company (SRC) supplied its first cargo of very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) in October, the company said in a statement.

“This milestone is in line with the refinery and wider industry’s readiness to supply 0.5% sulphur marine fuels from Singapore, one of the largest international bunkering ports,” the statement said.

Refiners around the world have been making adjustments at their plants to adapt to stricter marine fuel standards set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to be enforced on 1 January 2020.

The IMO rules will ban ships from using fuel oil with a sulphur content above 0.5% starting next year, from the current 3.5%, unless they are equipped with exhaust “scrubbers” to clean up sulphur emissions.

SRC is a 50:50 joint venture between Chevron and Singapore Petroleum, a wholly owned subsidiary of PetroChina International.

Here’s more from Reuters.