Business

Trafigura and partners complete live inventory financing on SGTraDex

Standard Chartered provided financing to Trafigura for its oil inventory stored by Advario, where Advario provided key data elements to enable execution of trade electronically via SGTraDex.

Published

4 years ago

September 7, 2022

Admin

Trafigura, Standard Chartered and Advario on Tuesday ( 6 September) announced the completion of their first live electronic oil inventory financing via Singapore Trade Data Exchange (SGTraDex) – a common data infrastructure launched in June 2022 to facilitate trusted and secure data sharing across supply chains.

Standard Chartered provided financing to Trafigura for its oil inventory stored by energy storage company Advario, where Advario provided key data elements that enabled the execution of the trade electronically via SGTraDex.

This paperless transaction was done by way of the Bank’s Structured Inventory Product (SIP), in which Standard Chartered obtained title of the oil purchased from Trafigura before selling it back to the leading global commodities trader within a pre-agreed timeframe. The transfer of title helped to free up Trafigura’s cash flow for a longer period of time.

Documents of transactions conducted on SGTraDex are verified using the TradeTrust framework and distributed ledger technology. The establishing of a SGTraDex data-sharing connection between oil terminals and financing banks on SGTraDex also ensures that timely and immutable inventory information is passed from the terminal to the bank without any risk of tampering or alteration.

The success of this transaction demonstrates the viability of electronic oil inventory financing in reducing the risks of double-financing and thereby helping to facilitate greater funds accessibility for a wider pool of traders, according to the companies.

Stephan Jansma, Chief Financial Officer, Asia Pacific, Trafigura, said: “Trafigura is pleased to take a leading role in the digital transformation of commodity trade flows, together with Standard Chartered, one of our key banking partners, Advario and SGTraDex. We are working towards SGTraDex becoming a regular feature in the financing of our inventories in Singapore and other import and export flows.”

Patrick Lee, Cluster CEO, Singapore and ASEAN Markets (Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Representative Offices), Standard Chartered, said: “We are proud to partner with Trafigura and Advario in executing our first live electronic oil inventory financing via the SGTraDex digital infrastructure. The success of this significant transaction underscores Standard Chartered’s commodity finance capabilities and demonstrates our commitment to supporting the growth and development of a secure and transparent digital supply chain ecosystem. Together we can play a key role in enhancing Singapore’s competitiveness as an international trade and commodity finance centre.”

Antoine Cadoux, CEO, SGTraDex, said: “We would like to congratulate Standard Chartered, Trafigura and Advario on their first live transaction on SGTraDex. All parties have been instrumental in developing our digital infrastructure and use cases. We look forward to our continued collaboration to drive adoption and develop new use cases across the industry. We are confident SGTraDex, with our mantra of openness, interoperability and security, has much to offer to ecosystem partners.”

Snehashish Chatterjee, Vice President, Advario S.E.A., said: “Advario is proud to be an integral part of providing reliable and trusted data via SGTraDex’s data sharing infrastructure in order to facilitate the secure and seamless trade of commodities. We look forward to developing this offering with key partners such as Trafigura and Standard Chartered and the wider industry.”

The firms said the successful transaction marks a major milestone in bringing actionable solutions to the ecosystem and will further boost Singapore’s status as a key global and regional trade hub.

Manifold Times previously reported on bunker suppliers utilising SGTraDex for their bunkering transactions.

Singapore-based financial services group DBS on 2 June reportedly completed its first live transaction that was done by way of an electronic bunker delivery note on SGTraDex.

On 3 June, Manifold Times reported Singapore bunker supplier Equatorial Marine Fuel Management Services Pte Ltd connected one third of its bunker tanker fleet to SGTraDex.

Photo credit: Trafigura
Published: 7 September 2022

Legal

Shell Singapore charged over Pulau Bukom oil leaks, reporting delays

Shell faces four charges under Singapore’s Prevention of Pollution of the Sea Act over two 2024 oil discharge incidents at its Pulau Bukom facility.

Published

23 hours ago

September 25, 2026

Admin

2 MPA craft (left) supporting Shell craft in the clean up operations of the oil sheens taken on 28 Dec 9am

Shell Singapore has been charged over two incidents in 2024 involving oily mixtures discharged into Singapore waters from its facilities at Pulau Bukom, according to media reports on Tuesday (22 September).

The company faces four charges under the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea Act, including allegations that it failed to report the discharges to the port master immediately.

The first incident occurred on 20 October 2024, when approximately 40 metric tonnes (mt) of oily mixture was discharged through a hole in a pipeline at the Shell Singapore Energy and Chemicals Park at about 8am.

Shell is accused of reporting the incident to the port master at about 12.55pm, several hours after the discharge occurred.

The second incident took place between 26 and 28 December 2024. An estimated 485kg to 956kg of oil mixture was discharged into Singapore waters from the same facility.

Shell is accused of failing to report the incident immediately, with notification to the port master made at about 11.50am on 26 December 2024, according to the charges.

Singapore’s pollution-prevention regulations require occupiers of such facilities to report oil or oily-mixture discharges into Singapore waters “without delay and to the fullest extent possible”.

Shell’s representative requested an eight-week adjournment at the 22 September hearing, citing the need to obtain internal instructions, appoint counsel and locate historical records. The company said the business associated with the incidents had been divested in 2025.

The case was adjourned to October. Shell is also facing prosecution by Singapore’s National Environment Agency over the same incidents.

Photo credit: Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore
Published: 25 September, 2026

Incident

MPA probes Singapore Strait collision involving fishing vessel, bulk carrier

MPA says there were no reported injuries among the crew of either vessel in the incident involving China-registered fishing vessel “Lu Qing Yuan Yu” and Panama-registered bulk carrier “First Margaux” .

Published

23 hours ago

September 25, 2026

Admin

Panama-registered bulk carrier “First Margaux”

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) on Tuesday (22 September) said it is investigating the incident involving the China-registered fishing vessel Lu Qing Yuan Yu and the Panama-registered bulk carrier First Margaux in the Singapore Strait on 17 September.

MPA said there were no reported injuries among the crew of either vessel or pollution arising from the incident and navigational traffic was not affected.

Videos circulating on social media showed the bulk carrier colliding with the fishing vessel.

“The fishing vessel took on water during the incident but remained afloat and stable, with the crew taking measures to manage the situation onboard,” MPA said.

The vessel was subsequently towed to Raffles Reserved Anchorage for assessment.

Essential crew remained onboard to support the tow, while the Singapore Civil Defence Force supported the transfer of other crew to shore.

MPA added it also issued navigational safety broadcasts to keep other vessels clear of the tow and escorted the vessel into port with a MPA craft.

Photo credit: MarineTraffic / Arnold Pohen
Published: 25 September, 2026

Mass Flowmeter

TFG Marine deploys first MFM-equipped bunker barge in Jamaica

Bunker barge “Kingston Trader” is currently on its way to Jamaica following the successful installation of a Coriolis mass flow meter (MFM) system, certified to ISO 22192.

Published

23 hours ago

September 25, 2026

Admin

TFG Marine deploys first MFM-equipped bunker barge in Jamaica

Global marine fuel supply and procurement firm TFG Marine on Thursday (24 September) said its bunker barge Kingston Trader is currently on its way to Jamaica following the successful installation of a Coriolis mass flow meter (MFM) system, certified to ISO 22192.

The company said the latest installation brings the proportion of TFG Marine’s fleet equipped with MFMs to approximately 88%, marking another step in the continued rollout of this technology across its global bunkering operations.

“The barge will operate in Jamaica through our local partnership with Scott Petroleum, becoming the first bunkering vessel in the region equipped with this technology and bringing greater accuracy, transparency and assurance to fuel measurement for customers across the Caribbean,” TFG Marine said in a social media post.

“Together with Scott Petroleum, we look forward to working collaboratively with the Maritime Authority of Jamaica, the The Port Authority of Jamaica, Petrojam Limited and other stakeholders to share our experience of MFM technology, explore its wider benefits and support the continued development of bunkering standards across the region.”

Manifold Times previously reported TFG Marine continuing to expand MFM technology across its US Gulf Coast bunker fleet with Buffalo B414 and Buffalo B304 being fitted with the equipment.

Last year, TFG Marine announced it reached a key milestone in its global digitalisation programme with the installation of an ISO 22192-compliant MFM on the Buffalo 404, a barge on time charter from American bunker barge company Buffalo Marine Service Inc.

The installation was part of TFG Marine’s wider strategy to equip close to 90% of its global bunkering fleet with MFMs by 2026 as a commitment towards improving data integrity, streamlining operations and strengthening trust in marine fuel transactions.

Photo credit: TFG Marine
Published: 25 September, 2026