14NOV2019 - NEWS - IMO 2020 Expected to Benefit South Korean Oil Refineries

With the IMO 2020 sulphur regulations set to go into effect from next year, the price difference between bunker C oil, a type of residue oil, and gasoline, kerosene and diesel is widening. Demand for bunker C oil, a fuel with a high sulphur content, is sharply decreasing in the marine fuel market.

This is explained by the recent sharp drop in sales of high sulphur bunker C oil in the marine fuel market. Industry watchers say that the proportion of high sulphur bunker C oil, which reached 94 percent last year in Singapore, the world’s largest marine fuel market, dropped to 85 percent this September. The change results from the IMO’s decision to sharply lower the global sulphur cap for marine fuels from 3.5 percent to 0.5 percent from Jan. 1, 2020.