Business

ENGINE: Americas Bunker Fuel Availability Outlook

Gulf Coast fuel oil production has recovered to pre-hurricane levels, and supply remains limited in Panama.

Published

5 years ago

October 22, 2021

Admin

Resized Americas Bunker Fuel Availability Outlook image for Manifold Times

The following article regarding regional bunker fuel availability outlook for the Americas has been provided by online marine fuels procurement platform ENGINE for publication on Singapore bunkering publication Manifold Times:

21 October, 2021

Gulf Coast fuel oil production has recovered to pre-hurricane levels, and supply remains limited in Panama.

US Gulf Coast refineries have ramped up fuel oil production to levels not seen since late August, before the region was battered by two damaging storms.

Gulf Coast production dropped off drastically in September, when Hurricane Ida and tropical storm Nicholas lashed across Louisiana and Texas, shutting in several refineries and curbing production in the weeks after. The region’s refineries did not produce any fuel oil for a whole week in mid-September, and Gulf Coast inventories were drawn down in the following weeks.

Gulf Coast inventories declined 8% from a high of 17.29 million bbls in mid-September, to 15.84 million bbls at the beginning of October.

The inventories have since added weigh with help from recovering production, before shedding 1% in the week to 15 October, when they were last measured by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Total US fuel oil stocks fell last week, partly as supply outstripped combined production and imports.

Unprecedented container ship congestion continues to clog up US West Coast ports. The queue to enter Los Angeles and Long Beach has averaged over 60 ships in recent weeks. The waiting time for container ships to take bunkers in the ports can extend to as much as two weeks, sources say.

Bunker availability is tight for prompt dates along the US West Coast. Supply capacity of HSFO380 is limited in Los Angeles with only two suppliers offer the grade there, and in San Francisco, where only one offers.

All fuel grades are in limited supply in Cristobal, and have been tightening in Balboa as ships transiting the Panama Canal have been looking at alternatives to Cristobal. A supplier’s earliest availability in Balboa is around eight days out. Others are unable to offer VLSFO and LSMGO on certain dates amid high demand and bunker congestion.

Resupply could be around the corner. Two cargoes carrying gasoil and diesel, and one carrying low sulphur fuel oil are due to arrive in the Cristobal from the US Gulf Coast and Balboa between 21-23 October, according to vessel tracking.

VLSFO availability is tight in two Brazilian ports. The earliest delivery date is estimated to be 26 October in Rio de Janeiro, and 31 October in Belem. Other Brazilian ports like Santos, Paranagua and Rio Grande have prompt product more readily available.

HSFO380 remains in limited supply across the South American west coast. Ports in Peru, Ecuador and Chile have all been out of product.

Photo credit: ENGINE
Published: 22 October, 2021

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.

Published

21 hours ago

July 21, 2026

Admin

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.

Photo credit: Sora Shimazaki
Published: 21 July, 2026

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.

Published

22 hours ago

July 21, 2026

Admin

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.

Photo credit: Drew Beamer
Published: 21 July, 2026

LNG Bunkering

PIL’s LNG dual-fuel boxship “Kota Elok” arrives in Singapore on maiden call

As the first of 13 new 13,000 TEU vessels joining its fleet, Kota Elok is equipped to operate on LNG and low-sulphur fuel oil that helps reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

Published

22 hours ago

July 21, 2026

Admin

PIL's LNG dual-fuel boxship “Kota Elok” arrives in Singapore on maiden call

Singapore-based Pacific International Lines Pte Ltd on Monday (20 July) said its first 13,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel container vessel, Kota Elok, recently made her maiden call to Singapore on 15 July.

As the first of 13 new 13,000 TEU vessels joining its fleet, Kota Elok is equipped to operate on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and low-sulphur fuel oil that helps reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

The vessel also incorporated energy-saving features and digital technologies to reduce fuel consumption and enhance operational performance, as well as a bow windshield to improve aerodynamics, contributing to improved fuel efficiency and lower emissions over the course of long-haul voyages.

“Following Singapore, Kota Elok will continue her voyage on our East Coast Service 1 (ES1) route to South America, calling at ports in Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina before returning to Asia,” the company said in a social media post.

Kota Elok also became PIL’s first vessel to receive Lloyd’s Register certification for compliance with the IACS UR E26 and UR E27 cyber security requirements.

Developed by the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), UR E26 and UR E27 are mandatory cyber resilience requirements for newbuild vessels contracted from 1 July 2024.

Photo credit: Pacific International Lines
Published: 21 July, 2026