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Argus Media: USGC bunker fuel producers not blending jet fuel

The relatively small scale of the bunker market in the US Gulf coast, compared to Singapore, also makes such a move not worth the associated risks in fuel quality, it said.
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Kayla Meyertons and Wendy Dulaney of global energy and commodity price reporting agency Argus Media on Thursday (24 September) published an article on how refiners on the US Gulf coast are not using jet fuel to blend low sulphur bunker fuel despite reports of such practices as it could cause safety issues and the market mechanisms behind LSFO’s current price strength against jet fuel:

A historic plunge in aviation demand may have cut jet fuel prices low enough for blending into marine fuels on paper, but US Gulf coast refiners are wary of such a move, citing ship engine compatibility concerns and flash point and viscosity issues.

No Gulf coast refineries have been reported blending straight-run kerosene, typically processed into jet fuel, to produce low-sulphur fuel oil (LSFO), according to multiple market sources, despite reports of such practices in Singapore, the world’s largest bunkering hub.

Gulf coast sources cited the challenges of the blending process. Too much straight-run kerosene has the potential to lower the temperature at which fuels ignite, known as the flash point, posing a dangerous risk to ship engines. Kerosene molecules are also shaped differently from the heavier fuel oil molecules, which means they resist staying in suspension. Too much light distillate could also create vapor lock issues on ships that run on fuel oil.

The relatively small scale of the bunker market in the US Gulf coast, compared to Singapore, also makes such a move not worth the associated risks, sources say. One market participant estimated a maximum of 40,000 bl of jet fuel components, or roughly 4,700 mt, could be blended into the monthly 4mn mt of LSFO demand in Singapore, where over a dozen very large crude carriers (VLCCs) of LSFO currently reside. In contrast, the Gulf coast market is a fraction of the Singapore market, with no floating LSFO VLCCs in the region.

Yet another hurdle is the still-low LSFO demand, despite a recent rise. LSFO demand in the US Gulf coast has remained relatively thin amid disruptions from Hurricane Laura and tropical storm Beta in the past few weeks. Low demand means blending straight-run kerosene — which increases a supplier’s liability to shipowners — is too risky a move to take at this time, sources say.

Jet fuel is more likely being used in US Gulf coast refineries as cutterstock, a light petroleum stream blended to reduce viscosity. LSFO production requires blending lower-viscosity material with high-viscosity residual fuel oil to meet the minimum viscosity specification shipowners prefer for LSFO, which is usually no less than 30cst.

Inverted prices

Technical difficulties, safety and economic risks aside, low jet fuel prices and resurgent shipping demand have inverted the typical pricing relationship between jet fuel and LSFO, making such blending potentially viable on paper.

Jet fuel flipped to a discount to LSFO on 11 August this year, a discount that has widened steadily. Gulf coast Colonial pipeline jet fuel has averaged a $3.47/bl discount to US Gulf coast LSFO so far this month, widening from a $2.51/bl discount in August. A year earlier, jet fuel averaged a $9.14/bl premium to LSFO in September 2019.

The US Gulf coast shipping industry, on the other hand, has strengthened marginally as the US relieved lockdown measures in recent months related to the Covid-19 pandemic. LSFO steadily made gains alongside Ice Brent crude this month, reaching up to $50.08/bl on 1 September, the highest since 6 March. Prices have averaged $46/bl so far this month. LSFO’s premium to Brent has also grown to an average $4/bl so far in September, up from $2.65/bl in August.

Part of LSFO’s price strength comes from a shortage of vacuum gasoil (VGO), a main blending component for LSFO that does not carry the technical risks of jet fuel. VGO supplies have tightened as low margins cut crude throughput.

US Gulf coast fuel oil production fell to 34,000 b/d as of 18 September, marking the lowest level since 10 July, when levels dove into negative territory, and a 122,000 b/d dip from year-ago levels, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Photo credit and source: Argus Media
Published: 25 September, 2020

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Winding up

Singapore: Xihe Holdings subsidiaries to be wound up voluntarily, creditors to submit claims

Creditors of Da Zhong Tankers and Xin Ying Shipping are required on or before 17 July 2026 to send in their names and addresses and particulars of their debts or claims to appointed liquidators, says notice.
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June 19, 2026

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Xihe Holdings Pte Ltd subsidiaries Da Zhong Tankers Pte Ltd and Xin Ying Shipping Pte Ltd will voluntarily wind up following resolutions that were passed by written means, according to a Government Gazette notice published on Thursday (18 June).

The resolutions set out below were duly passed:

  • SPECIAL RESOLUTION – WINDING-UP

That the Company be wound up voluntarily pursuant to section 160(1)(b) of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018.

  • ORDINARY RESOLUTION – APPOINTMENT OF LIQUIDATORS

That Paresh Tribhovan Jotangia and Ho May Kee of Grant Thornton Singapore Private Limited, 8 Marina View, #40-04/05 Asia Square Tower 1, Singapore 018960 be and are hereby appointed as joint and several liquidators to conduct the said winding-up and that their remuneration be fixed on the usual scale of their professional charges for the work involved.

  • SPECIAL RESOLUTION – POWERS OF LIQUIDATORS

That the liquidators of the Company be authorised to exercise any of their powers given by section 177, 144 (1) and (2) of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 and to distribute to members, in specie, any part of the assets of the Company.

In another notice, the liquidator of the company said creditors are required on or before 17 July 2026 to send in their names and addresses with particulars of their solicitors (if any) to liquidator Paresh Tribhovan Jotangia at Grant Thornton Singapore Private Limited, 8 Marina View, #40-04/05 Asia Square Tower 1, Singapore 018960. 

The liquidator may require creditors or their solicitors to “come in and prove their said debts or claims at such time and place as shall be specified in such notice or in default thereof, they will be excluded from the benefit of any distribution made before such debts are proved.”

Related: Singapore: Additional Xihe Holdings subsidiaries to be placed under judicial management

 

Photo credit: steve pb from Pixabay
Published: 19 June, 2026

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Winding up

Singapore: Liquidator of Parakou Shipping issues notice of dividend

Second and final dividend to admitted creditors of Parakou Shipping is payable by 14 July, according to Government Gazette notice.

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June 19, 2026

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A notice of dividend for Parakou Shipping Pte Ltd, which is currently in voluntary liquidation, was published on the Government Gazette on Thursday (18 June). 

The following are the details of the notice:

Name of Company : Parakou Shipping Pte Ltd (In Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation)
Address of Registered Office : c/o KordaMentha, 50 Raffles Place, 25-01 Singapore Land Tower, Singapore 048623
Amount per centum : 0.55 per centum of admitted claims (in accordance with the Order of Court HC/ORC 4175/2024)
First and Final or otherwise : Second and Final Dividend to admitted creditors (in accordance with the Order of Court HC/ORC 4175/2024)
When payable : By 14 July 2026
Where payable : c/o KordaMentha Pte Ltd, 50 Raffles Place, #25-01 Singapore Land Tower, Singapore 048623

Related: Singapore: Notice of intended dividend issued for Parakou Shipping Pte Ltd

 

Photo credit: Benjamin Child
Published: 19 June, 2026

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Alternative Fuels

MOL inks bio-LNG bunker fuel supply deals with Titan and Axpo for car carriers in Europe

Titan, part of Amsterdam-based Molgas, will continue to supply bio-LNG fuel in Northwest Europe, while Axpo will take charge of supply in the Mediterranean region.
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MOL inks bio-LNG bunker fuel supply deals with Titan and Axpo for car carriers in Europe

Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) on Thursday (18 July) said it has signed new supply agreements in Northern Europe and the Mediterranean region to expand the use of bio-LNG marine fuel on MOL-operated LNG-fuelled car carriers.

Titan, part of Amsterdam-based Molgas, will continue to supply bio-LNG fuel in Northwest Europe, while Axpo will take charge of supply in the Mediterranean region.

MOL said the agreement makes it possible for its company to supply bio-LNG fuel for automobile carriers in the Mediterranean region, specifically Port of Malaga and Barcelona in Spain, following the bio-LNG fuel supply agreement in Western Europe, which commenced in March last year.

The bio-LNG fuel to be supplied in this initiative has a lifecycle carbon intensity (carbon dioxide emissions per unit of energy consumption) of -15 g-CO2/MJ or less, from production through consumption. Furthermore, this bio-LNG fuel has obtained International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC-EU). 

“Through this supply agreement, MOL has established a framework that ensures a continuous and stable supply of bio-LNG fuel not only in Northern Europe but also in the Mediterranean,” the company said.

As part of the group’s efforts to adopt alternative fuels and achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, it is utilising LNG-fuelled vessels as a bridge solution to facilitate the transition to carbon-neutral fuels such as bio-LNG and synthetic LNG (e-methane).

In 2025, MOL signed a bio LNG fuel supply agreement in Northwest Europe with Titan, part of the Molgas, and MOL has continued this bio LNG fuel supply agreement with the same company in 2026 as well.

 

Photo credit: Mitsui OSK Lines
Published: 19 June, 2026

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