Japanese refiner Fuji Oil has started supplying 0.5% sulfur bunker fuel oil this month at its sole 143,000 b/d Sodegaura refinery in Tokyo Bay as it gets ready for the International Maritime Organization’s mandate, a company spokesman said.
Fuji Oil’s start of IMO-compliant fuel oil supply is the latest in growing supplies of 0.5% sulfur bunker fuel oil in Japan, where the country’s top three refiners JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy, Idemitsu Kosan and Cosmo Oil have also started their supplies across the country on Tuesday.
The IMO will cap global sulfur content in marine fuels at 0.5% from January 1, down from 3.5% now. This applies outside the designated emission control areas where the limit is already 0.1%. Shipowners will have to either burn cleaner, more expensive fuels or install scrubbers if they continue to burn high sulfur fuel oil, to comply with the rule.
For Fuji Oil, the start of 0.5% sulfur bunker fuel oil supply would mean an increased need to deal with high sulfur fuel oil and residual oil, said the spokesman, adding that the company has not changed its crude slate for producing IMO-compliant fuel oil.
Fuji Oil, however, will use asphalt pitch and residual oil as its feedstocks for its 36,000 kw asphalt pitch boiler turbine generator at its Sodegaura refinery, the spokesman said.
Research conducted by the Petroleum Association of Japan showed that Japanese refiners could be burdened with surplus HSFO amounting to around 4.80 million kl/year (30.19 million barrels/year) if they blend export-grade gasoil with HSFO to make the IMO-compliant fuel.