Bunker bulletin 7

Operations recently established at Patras on the west coast of Greece have expanded Aegean Marine Petroleum Network’s presence in the Mediterranean. The port serves as a strategic commercial hub connecting Greece and the Balkans with Italy and the rest of Western Europe, having a focus on international ferry business.

Aegean has served the Patras market on a limited basis since second quarter-2008 from its base in Piraeus and plans to assign four of its double-hulled bunkering tankers hitherto stationed there to Patras. The international marine fuel logistics company, which markets and physically supplies ships in port and at sea, now has a presence in 14 global sectors, including Vancouver, Montreal, Mexico, Jamaica, West Africa, Gibraltar, the UK, Northern Europe, Greece, the UAE and Singapore, and has plans to start operations in Tangiers in Morocco and Trinidad & Tobago.

Independent oil company Greenergy International and Cockett Marine Oil have formed a partnership to sell fuel to the shipping industry on the Thames. There is currently no large supply of marine fuel bunkers on the UK river but operators will now be able to buy locally rather than at other ports.

Cockett Marine has operated bunker services for shipping globally for more than 30 years, mainly as a trader, but now intends to move into the physical supply sector in strategic locations. Greenergy will store marine fuel on the Thames estuary to supply a growing volume of traffic in and around the area, including a US$3 billion shipping and logistics park on the Thames Gateway and traffic related to the construction of the Olympic Park in East London.

A reduction of bunker consumption is an immediate short-term goal for BP Shipping in addressing air pollution from its fleet. In March the group operated 77 ships and chartered 115 tankers to carry its cargoes. Its statistics show the oil major managed to cut bunker fuel usage across the fleet in 2008 by 16,000 tonnes, a 3-4 per cent reduction on volumes in 2007.

“We are moving our ships in more efficient ways, using weather forecasts as an aid in trying to reduce fuel consumption,” explains Gavin Kramer, regional director (Asia Pacific) for BP Shipping. There are numerous approaches in the market but we have to make an informed selection on which technology to use, he adds.

Chemoil’s profit after tax for fiscal year 2008 rose 55 per cent to US$47.1 million from $30.3 million in 2007, while annual revenue rose by 62 per cent to $8.7 billion. The revenue rise was supported by an increase in sales volume of 13 per cent to 16.5 million tonnes. Gross contribution per tonne, the company’s key earnings measure, also improved for fiscal 2008 to $8.05 per tonne (largely attributed to hedging activities that protected the value of inventories during an extremely volatile year).

Total volumes for 2008 were boosted by new retail operations in the Middle East and Singapore as well as by greater overall cargo sales. In fourth quarter 2008 volumes increased by 23 per cent to 3.8 million tonnes from 3.1 million tonnes in the same period of 2007.

“During highly turbulent and volatile market conditions, the strength of Chemoil’s results for 2008 highlights the performance of our business model in both rising and falling oil markets,” reported Chemoil chairman and chief executive officer Clyde Michael Bandy. “Chemoil has worked to combine stringent financial management, robust operational delivery and dynamic marketing, along with a carefully-planned global expansion.

“This is underpinned by the flexibility of Chemoil’s sales mix, which enables us to adjust sales towards segments that can generate better margins. Our physical operations in Singapore made a key contribution to increased sales, and our strategy of investing in infrastructure that strengthens our market position and drives growth has been reaffirmed. The commencement of supply services in the Middle East region also contributed to an improvement sales volumes during 2008.”

Ongoing risk mitigation is seen as vital through the global economic downturn, and credit management will continue to be strengthened. MP