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Argus Media: Lack of Ecuadorian LSFO output to benefit Panama

Ecuadorian reliance on imports and lack of local LSFO refiners could keep Ecuador’s prices less competitive.

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Stefka Wechsler of global energy and commodity price reporting agency Argus Media on Thursday (9 January) issued a report highlighting a potential shift in bunker demand from Ecuador to Balboa due to LSFO prices:

Historically Ecuadorian bunker suppliers have marketed imported fuel oil for bunkering. But the exclusive use of imports and no supplies of locally refined LSFO could keep Ecuador’s prices for the fuel less competitive compared with the competing port of Balboa, on Panama’s Pacific coast. This could shift some of the demand away from Ecuador to Balboa.

The International Maritime Organization global regulation which capped marine fuel sulphur emissions content at 0.5pc from 3.5pc starting on 1 January drove up demand for the lower sulphur bunkering fuels starting in December.

Panama suppliers began offering LSFO for sale as early as October. Ecuadorian bunker suppliers waited for a supply update from state-owned PetroEcuador until the end of December, when it became clear that they needed to import the product if they were to meet demand, as it remains unclear if the company will produce it in the future.

PetroEcuador’s residual fuel oil sulphur content ranges at 1.61-2.30pc with viscosity at 50°C in the range of 420-510 centistokes. Its sulphur content does not meet the global marine fuel regulation without blending it down.

Panama does not have an operational refinery and is also reliant on oil imports. But the bulk of the LSFO product to be sold for bunkering in Panama and in Ecuador is expected to be sourced from the Atlantic side of the continent, namely from the US Gulf coast and the Caribbean.

To reach Ecuador from the Atlantic side the residual fuel oil will be transshipped through Panama, making Panama better positioned to take advantage of import prices compared with Ecuador.

Ecuador sold about 10,000 b/d of residual fuel oil for bunkering during the first 11 months of 2019. The country’s three refineries produced a total of 61,750 b/d of residual fuel oil during that same time period, down by 7pc compared with the prior-year period.

The Esmeraldas refinery produced 62pc of the fuel, the Libertad refinery produced 37pc and the Shushufindi refinery produced 1pc. About 7,000 b/d of the fuel was sold for public utility power generation and about 4,670 b/d sold for industrial power generation.

Ecuador exported 39,450 b/d of residual fuel oil in the first eleven months of 2019 to Panama, Japan, Mexico and the US, among others.

International demand for Ecuadorian high-sulphur residual fuel is expected to drop this year.

 

Photo credit and source: Argus Media

Published: 13 January, 2020

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Technology

Singapore: Ofiniti, ONE trial direct platform integration to streamline bunker workflows

Ofiniti started a trial in Singapore, integrating FuelBoss directly with a bunker buyer’s own platform, with Ocean Network Express as its first buyer-side integration partner.

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Singapore: Ofiniti, ONE trial direct platform integration to streamline bunker workflows

Ofiniti, the digital platform for maritime fuel operations, on Tuesday (21 July) said it has started a trial in Singapore, integrating FuelBoss directly with a bunker buyer’s own platform.

The company announced Singapore-headquartered container shipping firm Ocean Network Express (ONE) as its first buyer-side integration partner. 

“It is no coincidence we start in Singapore, as the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) remains at the forefront of digitalisation of all things bunkering,” the company said in a social media post.

In November 2023, MPA launched its digital bunkering platform, becoming the world’s first port to implement e-BDN. 

Ofiniti said every bunker delivery still runs on retyped data. 

“The buyer’s system says one thing, the supplier says another, and someone reconciles the gap by email, phone, or PDF. On every stem,” the company said. 

“We built FuelBoss to change this reality.”

With the integration, operational data now flows without manual re-entry, fewer reconciliation errors and faster processing and data, instead of documents, are readily available for procurement and claims workflows. 

“One connection will not transform the industry on its own, but digitalisation gets built one integration at a time. We are grateful to ONE for being willing to go first,” Ofiniti added.

Manifold Times previously reported ONE completing its successful trial of the electronic Bunker Delivery Note (e-BDN) with Shell. 

The e-BDN trial, using the digital bunkering solution developed by Angsana Technology, was conducted on 9 September 2023 at the Port of Singapore, with support from the MPA.

In March 2025, Ofiniti acquired Singapore-based Angsana Technology, with the entire Angsana team joining Ofiniti as part of the acquisition.

Related: MPA Chief Executive: Port of Singapore begins digital bunkering initiative today
Related: Singapore set to become first port in the world to debut electronic bunker delivery notes
Related: ONE completes e-BDN adoption trial with Shell in Port of Singapore
Related: Ofiniti acquires Singapore-based Angsana Technology to advance digital bunkering solutions

 

Photo credit: Ofiniti
Published: 22 July, 2026

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Legal

Singapore withdraws remaining 127 charges against Hin Leong founder OK Lim

Lim Oon Kuin, also known as OK Lim, was issued a stern warning and a district court granted him a discharge amounting to an acquittal for these charges on 17 July.

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RESIZED Sora Shimazaki on Pexels

Founder of collapsed oil trader Hin Leong Trading, Lim Oon Kuin, also known as OK Lim, has had the remaining 127 charges against him withdrawn, according to The Straits Times on Monday (20 July). 

OK Lim was issued a stern warning and a district court granted him a discharge amounting to an acquittal for these charges, including those for cheating, on 17 July. The discharge means Lim cannot be prosecuted again for the same offences.

Lim, 84, is currently serving a 13½-year prison sentence after the High Court reduced his original 17½-year jail term in March 2026. He was convicted in 2024 on two cheating charges and one count of abetting forgery in a case prosecutors described as one of Singapore’s most serious trade finance frauds.

Lim was convicted in May 2024 of two charges of cheating the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) and one count of abetting forgery that proceeded to trial out of a total of 130 criminal charges.

He was first charged in court on 14 August 2020, and was subsequently handed further charges in court on 25 September 2020, 30 April 2021 and 24 June 2021 for his role in perpetuating fraud on various financial institutions. 

A total of 130 charges were eventually brought against him for cheating and forgery-related offences.

Related: Singapore: Hin Leong Founder OK Lim gets jail term slashed to 13.5 years

 

Photo credit: Sora Shimazaki
Published: 21 July, 2026

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Winding up

Singapore: Coastal Logistics Pte Ltd to be wound up voluntarily

Coastal Logistics was reportedly affiliated with troubled Singapore bunker player Coastal Oil (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

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RESIZED Drew Beamer

Several resolutions for Coastal Logistics Pte Ltd were made during an extraordinary general meeting held on 14 July, according to a notice in the Government Gazette on Friday (4 July).

The following resolutions were duly passed during the meeting:

As Special Resolution

  • That it has been proved to the satisfaction of the meeting that the Company cannot by reason of its liabilities continue its business and accordingly the Company be wound up voluntarily pursuant to Section 160(1)(b) of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (No. 40 of 2018);

As Ordinary Resolutions

  • that Mr. Wong Pheng Cheong Martin and Ms. Koay May Yee, both care of FTI Consulting (Singapore) Pte Ltd, One Raffles Quay, #27-10 South Tower, Singapore 048583 be appointed as the joint and several Liquidators of the Company for the purpose of such winding up; and
  • that the Liquidators be at liberty to open, maintain and operate any bank account(s) or account(s) for monies received by them as Liquidators with such bank(s) as they deem fit; and
  • that a Committee of Inspection will not be formed.

Manifold Times previously reported Nicholas James Gronow, director of Heng Tong Fuels & Shipping and Coastal Logistics, filed statutory declarations for both companies stating the firms cannot continue their businesses due to liabilities.

Both companies were reportedly affiliated with troubled Singapore bunker player Coastal Oil (Singapore) Pte Ltd. 

In 2019, several vessels owned by both firms entered the sale & purchase (S&P) market in Singapore.

Related: Singapore: Director declares Heng Tong Fuels & Shipping’s inability to continue business
Related: Heng Tong Fuels & Shipping in court over DBS Bank bunker tanker loan
Related: Singapore: Bunker tanker “Coastal Neptune” arrested
Related: Heng Tong Fuels & Shipping, Coastal Logistics tankers enter S&P market

 

Photo credit: Drew Beamer
Published: 21 July, 2026

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