High-sulphur bunker sales in S'pore increase in December

Analysts cite greater supply of cheap blended oil originating from sanctioned countries

- Luke Pachymuthu

High-sulphur marine fuel sales at the port of Singapore rose in December, supported largely by the increased availability and attractive economics of cheap blended oil originating from sanctioned countries, industry sources said on Thursday.

According to data from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), sales of high-sulphur marine fuels rose more than 2 per cent from the previous month to 1.27 million tonnes, while year on year, they were up nearly 18 per cent.

Mr Roslan Khasawneh, a senior analyst at data analytics firm Vortexa, said high-sulphur marine fuel is often a cocktail of various residual fuel streams, and it is difficult to say with certainty which supplies include oil from Russia, Venezuela or Iran.

However, he said: "Considering that residual fuel exports from these countries have averaged about 1.2 million barrels per day since the start of 2020, it is not unlikely that they are present in a good chunk of high-sulphur bunkers.