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SINGAPORE, March 25 (Reuters) - Demand for low sulphurbunker fuel in Singapore is expected to rise at least 20 percentthis year, following tighter emission regulations in NorthAmerica, a survey done with six bunker players showed.
Singapore is the world's largest bunkering port by volumeand a major transit port for vessels plying the route betweenAsia and the United States.
Low sulphur bunker fuel demand in Singapore could reach60,000 tonnes a month this year, up from 45,000-50,000 tonnes per month last year, the survey participants said, attributingthe rise to the latest emission control area (ECA) in NorthAmerica that came into effect last August.
Demand for low sulphur bunker fuel, however, did not riseimmediately after August as "additional suppliers didn't enterthe market until towards the end of last year", aSingapore-based bunker trader said.
Under regulations by United Nations shipping agency,International Maritime Organization (IMO), ships travelling toECAs are required to burn fuel with a maximum of 1 percentsulphur content, down from the previous 3.5 percent limit.
Other two ECAs are the North Sea and Baltic Sea.
In response to growing interests in low sulphur bunker fuel,the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore has started keepingtrack of low sulphur bunker sales separately since January thisyear, unlike an earlier practice of publishing total sales.
Before August last year, Brazilian energy firm Petrobras wasthe only supplier of low sulphur bunker fuel in Singapore, butnow more oil firms such as BP, Shell and Total have added low sulphur bunker fuel to their portfolio.
But several industry players are unsure demand for lowsulphur bunker would continue to increase in coming years.
"It depends how many vessels opt for distillates, or take upLNG when the next cuts happen," a second bunker trader said.
Sulphur limits in ECAs will be reduced to 0.1 percent in2015, while IMO wants to slash global sulphur cap to 0.5 percentby 2020, with a possible extension to 2025 subject to a reviewin 2018.
