UAE-based Brooge Petroleum and Gas Investment Co (BPGIC) has unveiled a plan to build a 250,000-barrels per day (bpd) capacity refinery to produce IMO 2020-compliant bunker fuel in Fujairah, says an article published in Seatrade Maritime News.
IMO 2020 fuel regulation
The first phase of BPGIC planned refinery is scheduled for completion by the first quarter of 2020.
From 1 January 2020, IMO will enforce its Marpol Annex VI regulation mandating all ocean-going vessels to burn bunker fuels with a maximum sulphur content of 0.5%, down from the current limit of 3.5%.
According to BPGIC, the refinery will be the first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa to comply with the upcoming IMO 2020 regulation.
Can compliant fuel demand be met?
“The new facility will contribute to bolstering the growing status of the Emirate of Fujairah in the oil and gas industry and help meet the growing demand for shipping fuel that complies with the new international laws on capping sulphur content in shipping fuels,” said Nicolaas Paardenkooper, ceo of BPGIC.
The UAE port of Fujairah is one of the world’s top three largest bunkering ports. Singapore is the world’s runaway leader in bunker sales while Fujairah and Rotterdam ports are neck-to-neck in their sales volumes.
Fujairah is estimated to have sold approximately 9m metric tonnes of bunkers last year compared to Rotterdam’s 9.5m metric tonnes.
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Source: SeatradeMaritime
