Thailand’s oil and petrochemical company IRPC Public Co. Ltd. plans to start selling low sulfur fuel oil cargo with maximum sulfur of 0.5% from its Rayong refinery from next month, company sources told Platts on Monday.
Why this move?
This move is in line with the new regulation by the International Maritime Organization, which will implement a new sulfur cap of 0.5% from January 2020, the sources said.
- IRPC will produce 0.5% sulfur fuel oil at its own refinery with a capacity of 215,000 b/d in Rayong.
- The refinery will optimize its desulfurization unit at Rayong refinery to produce 0.5% sulfur bunker fuel, one of the sources said.
- It will sell about 20,000-30,000 mt of low sulfur fuel oil in July to a local bunker supplier, the company sources added.
Negotiating on Prices
They are still negotiating on the price of the cargo, while they are likely to use S&P Global Platts 10 ppm gasoil assessments as a pricing basis, the sources added.
IRPC also considers increasing the sales volume in coming days depending on the optimization of the desulfurization unit and demand, one of the sources said.
Reducing 3.5% Bunker Fuel Sale
The company has been selling about 20,000 mt/a month of 3.5% fuel oil cargoes to local bunker suppliers. It will continue to sell the same fuel oil as demand seems to remain there, but the company will gradually reduce sales volume of 3.5% bunker fuel and shift to 0.5% sulfur bunker fuel, according to a source.
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Source: Platts
