PetroChina International tops Singapore's list of 2021 marine-fuel suppliers

[SINGAPORE] PetroChina International Singapore Pte Ltd climbed three spots to become the top marine fuel supplier in the world's biggest ship refuelling hub in 2021, a year when the overall number of licensed suppliers fell by 4 to 41, official data showed on Monday.

Shell Singapore's bunkering unit, Shell Eastern Trading, fell from the top ranking in 2020 to third, behind Singapore's Equatorial Marine Fuel Management Services in second place, unchanged from 2020, the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) of Singapore data showed.

Vitol Bunkers, previously Sinanju Marine Services, climbed six spots to rank fourth in 2021, followed by Trafigura's TFG Marine in fifth, up 11 spots from 2020, the data showed.

Vitol is among the latest entrants to Singapore's licensed bunker supplier space, having entered the fray in early 2020.

Mercuria's Minerva Bunkering ranked 13th in 2021, up from 22nd in the year before.

The biggest leaps up MPA's rankings in 2021 were Hong Lam Fuels, up 14 places to 10th, and Sirius Marine, which was up by 12 spots to 29th.

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

Pegasus Maritime made the largest drop in rankings, falling 12 spots to 39th in 2021, followed by Palmstone Tankers & Trading, which dropped 10 places to 30th.

Singapore-based Sentek Marine & Trading dropped five places to eighth in 2021, behind Equatorial Marine Fuel Management Services in second place after climbing from fourth in the previous year, the latest data from the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) of Singapore showed.

In late-2020, the founder of Sentek - which in 2018-2020 was among Singapore's top three marine fuel suppliers - was charged for his involvement in a large-scale oil theft from Shell's refinery in the city-state.

Total Marine Fuels, a unit of France's TotalEnergies, fell further down the rankings in 2021 to 19th place, down 6 spots from the previous year. Previously, in 2019 and 2018, the company ranked 6th.

The fall in number of licensed bunker supplying companies to 41 in 2021, from 45 in the year before, came courtesy of Ocean Bunkering Services and Hin Leong Marine International falling off the MPA's list of suppliers. Both are units of defunct oil trader Hin Leong. Pacific Bunkering Services and A Dot Marine Pte Ltd were also dropped from the 2021 list.

Sales of marine fuels, known as bunkers, in Singapore climbed to a 4-year high in 2021, led by higher sales in the first half of the year amid firm global demand for sea-borne freight.

The city state accounts for about 20 per cent of global bunkering sales.

REUTERS