Argentinian LSFO bunker demand up Jan-Sept

Argentinian residual fuel oil bunker sales rose by 39 percent in the first nine months of the year, supported by the pending global low sulphur marine fuel regulation.

From January to September, sales of Argentina's residual fuel oil bunker — a low-sulphur fuel produced locally from sweet Argentinian crude — increased by 39pc to 656,648t, compared with 475,828t during the same period last year, according to Argentina's Petroleum and Gas Institute. In the first nine months of 2019, Argentina's state-controlled YPF sold 158,291t of residual fuel oil for bunkering, Trafigura sold 162,941t, Shell sold 239,141t and Pan American Energy sold 96,274t.

the International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) new sulphur limits for marine fuel go into effect 1 January, reducing acceptable emissions levels from ships from the current 3.5pc sulphur levels to 0.5pc sulphur. Argus began assessing 0.5pc sulphur fuel oil prices in Buenos Aires, Argentina's biggest bunkering port on 2 October, based on reported deals. Buenos Aires's 0.5pc sulphur fuel oil prices have been the second cheapest in Latin America and North America following Brazil's ports.

Argentinian sales of marine gasoil (MGO), which is not as price-competitive as Argentina's residual fuel oil, were flat at around 330,000m³ from January to September 2019 compared with the same period last year. Nearly half of the Argentinian MGO was sold by Pan American Energy and the other half by YPF.

In the first nine months of 2019 Argentina produced 1.93mn t of residual fuel oil, up by 39pc from 1.38mn t produced during the same period in 2018. The biggest residual fuel oil producers were: Shell's Dock Sud refinery (924,514t), Pan American Energy's Campana refinery (387,637t), YPF's La Plata refinery (347,257t) and Trafigura's Ricardo Elicabe refinery (199,033t).

International demand for Argentina's sweet resid is strong. Argentina's low-sulphur fuel oil exports to Singapore and Malaysia increased by 52pc to 118,500t in the first nine months of the year, data from oil analytics firm Vortexa showed. The fuel will likely be sold in the local bunkering market. Argentina also shipped 176,000t of resid to the US Virgin Islands in January-September, up from less than 30,000t during the same period last year. The fuel will likely be used for power generation.

by Stefka Wechsler

source: Argus Media