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By Jessica Jaganathan
SINGAPORE, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell
has loaded the first cargo of low-sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) from
its Pulau Bukom refining site in Singapore, it said on Thursday.
Demand for stable low-sulphur marine fuel supplies is rising
as the shipping sector prepares for the International Maritime
Organization's (IMO) lowering of the cap on sulphur in marine
fuels to 0.5% from 3.5% beginning in January 2020.
This is the first time Shell has made LSFO from its own
upstream crude, the company said in a statement.
The cargo will be blended to a finished product, which Shell
will supply to bunker customers, enabling its customers to be
prepared for the implementation of the IMO 2020 mandate, Shell
said.
Shell said it has developed fuel product offers including
very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) supply in selected bunkering
ports, high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) supply for ships with
on-board scrubbers and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Shippers will need to switch to lower sulphur fuels such as
LSFO or marine gasoil (MGO) or install scrubbers to clean the
emissions of higher sulphur fuels.
VLSFO has emerged as an economically attractive option,
despite expectations of higher demand for marine gasoil.
Refineries around Asia such as Japan's Cosmo Oil, Taiwan's
Formosa Petrochemical and South Korean refineries have
started producing and selling VLSFO grades.
(Reporting by Jessica Jaganathan; editing by Christian
Schmollinger)