Gunvor gets “express” permission on refinery upgrade for bunkers
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by Admin
Dutch authorities have reportedly given global commodity trading firm Gunvor permission to upgrade its Rotterdam refinery with a delayed coker unit without first conducting any environment assessments.
The delayed coker unit will allow the refinery to reprocess fuel oil material, traditionally used as bunker fuel, into cleaner products.
Gunvor, which has not yet committed to the upgrade, is considering the move due to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) decision to mandate the consumption of 0.5% sulphur limit bunker fuel by 2020.
“Gunvor is currently studying several options for how best to respond to the IMO decision,” Gunvor spokesman Seth Pietras told Reuters.
“We have not made any decision yet.”
According to Reuters, several oil majors including ExxonMobil and Total have already made investments to upgrade their refineries in preparation for the upcoming 2020 IMO regulation.
Gunvor acquired the Rotterdam refinery from Kuwait Petroleum Europoort in 1 February, 2016.
Published: 26 January, 2018
