Bunkerspot Feb/Mar 23

BUNKERSPOT SURVEY 2023

A WORLD OF CHANGE?

INSIDE:
MIDDLE EAST BUNKERING
RISK MANAGEMENT
FUEL SMUGGLING
MARKET FOCUS: PERU

MEBC 2023

• The eighth edition of the Middle East Bunkering Convention in Dubai offered an excellent forum for industry discussion but, as Lesley Bankes-Hughes reports, the unremitting conflict in Ukraine, a bleak global economic outlook, high energy prices and the huge challenges associated with decarbonisation made for some sombre forecasts on the near-term outlook for shipping. Lesley Bankes-Hughes highlights some of the key bunkering takeways from the MEBC

The Bunkerspot Survey 2023

• With so much going on in 2022, and 2023 is likely to be just as eventful, we are presenting the
  findings of the latest Bunkerspot annual survey in a series of separate, but interconnected, articles. We begin our Bunkerspot 2023 Survey with a look at the impact of the war in Ukraine. Our panel of experts next focus on the maritime world’s energy transition. The Hi5 spread, scrubbers, off-spec fuels and biorefineries all make an appearance in this section of the Survey, which focuses on fuel quality, pricing and availability issues. We conclude with a review of some of the tools and initiatives that, depending on your point of view, either help regulate, control and protect players in the bunker industry – or add extra levels of complexity

Russia Sanctions

• Erik Hoffmann and Nithin Chandran of ENGINE ask if there will be a European bunker supply crunch after Russian imports dry up?

Fuel Quality

• 2022 was yet another ‘interesting’ year for fuel quality, with notable contamination issues in the Singapore and ARA bunker markets, the impact of the Ukraine situation on the fuel supply chain, and an increase in the use of biofuels. Steve Bee of VPS offers a useful snapshot of fuel trends and statistics. Naeem Javaid and Murray Kirkwood of FOBAS consider the causes and location of major off-spec bunker fuel incidents in 2022

Decarbonisation

• The Maersk McKinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping is driving R&D in shipping’s energy transition. Here, Matt Dunlop of V.Group – one of the Center’s strategic partners – tells Lesley Bankes-Hughes how the Copenhagen-based hub is championing innovation. Taking a step-by-step approach to adopting new fuels is the best way to help de-risk the decarbonisation transition, says Wärtsilä’s Mikael Wideskog

Fuel Cells

• Chris Chatterton of The Methanol Institute argues that methanol, as the most efficient carrier of hydrogen, is the preferred fuel source for a solution seen as critical to reducing emissions

Fleet Renewal

• Hannes von Knorring of DNV tells Ian Taylor about a new feasibility study focused on green-fuelled newbuilds for the Baltic and North Sea fleets

Marine Credit Insurance

• Graham Watts of Bunker Insure surveys the marine credit insurance market and finds that good coverage is still available for bunker companies, but through a far more limited number of providers

Counterparty Risk Assessment

• Michalis Manassakis of KPI OceanConnect discusses the marine fuels market’s changing dynamics and the importance of building trust and transparency with counterparties as shipping navigates the energy transition

Risk Management

• What can a 30-year-old report on derivatives teach the bunker industry about managing risks? Quite a lot, suggests energy market risk professional, Kevin O’Reilly

Terms and Conditions

• Hamed Fathi considers how we deal with modern day risks in the bunker industry

Fuel Smuggling

• Thomas Timlen of Risk Intelligence finds that fuel smuggling remains a problem in Southeast Asia

Market Focus: Peru

• Ian Taylor finds that Peru’s bunker market could be on the cusp of a major upgrade