ExxonMobil : No Single Best Fuel for 0.50% Global Sulfur Cap, But LNG Bunkers Will Have a Role to Play in the Future

Ian White, Field Marketing Manager, ExxonMobil Marine Fuels & Lubricants says MGO was the "default choice" for compliance

ExxonMobil says Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) bunkers will have a role to play as one of the future fuels to hep vessel operators meet the upcoming 0.50 percent global sulfur cap for marine fuel, but there is no one fuel that stands out as the single obvious best choice, Seatrade Global reports. 

"We believe LNG will have a role to play in the future," Eddy H. Van Bouwel, policy planning senior advisor, ExxonMobil, said last week at he Nor-Shipping 2015 seminar "Future of Marine Fuels by 2020/25."

"It allows you to meet your sulfur requirements without any difficulties, but with the low oil prices cost is a factor. And it's not a drop-in fuel for a ship."

Ian White, Field Marketing Manager, ExxonMobil Marine Fuels & Lubricants, noted there was much discussion over LNG bunkers, but at present there was little availability.

"LNG is everywhere in the media but it's not really anywhere on the ground in the industry yet," he said.

Marine Gas Oil (MGO) was the "default choice" for compliance, said White, "because it's widely available and well-understood."

However he also warned that when using MGO there is a risk of thermal shock to engine components during fuel switchovers, as fuel oil is heated and distillate fuels are used at ambient temperature.

"This can cause problems with pumps, fuel lines, and engines designed for HFO," explained White.

"Data from California shows that fuel switching [from HFO to MGO] causes a Loss of Propulsion (LOP) as much as once a week. We haven't seen any incidents in the English Channel yet but it's a really bad place to have an LOP."

Under revised International Maritime Organisation (IMO) MARPOL VI regulations, the global maximum sulfur content of bunker fuel will be capped at 0.50 percent in 2020 or, subject to a review in 2018, in 2025.

New Fuels

Over the last year ExxonMobil has also introduced a number of new fuels to help operators comply with increasingly stringent rules governing the sulfiur content of marine fuel, which on January 1, 2015 was lowered to a maximum of 0.10 percent by weight for vessels operating within Emissions Control Areas (ECAs).

In July last year ExxonMobil launched what was described as a "new catagory of marine fuel," ExxonMobil Premium Heavy Distillate Marine ECA 50 (HDME 50) that has a combination of the low sulfur content of MGO but, like HFO, is heated and shares its higher flashpoint and lower volatility.

In March a second specialist fuel for use within ECAs was launched, ExxonMobil Premium Advanced Fuel Marine ECA 200 (AFME 200).

"It's the cleanest residual we've ever produced," said White.

At the time of its launch, ExxonMobil said that it had conducted extensive fuel compatibility and stability tests during the development of AFME 200, including the ISO 10307-2 sediment test, and the results indicated that AFME 200 is fully compatible with both MGO and HDME 50.