Asia/Pacific News
IMO2020: Ulsan Desulfurisation Unit on Track for July 2020 Completion
South Korea's SK innovation Co., Ltd. (SK innovation) will complete construction of a new desulfurisation unit in July 2020, according to local media reports.
As Ship & Bunker reported last year, the firm plans to invest KRW 1 trillion ($897.8 million) in the project that will see the addition of a 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) Vacuum Residue Desulfurisation (VRDS) unit to an 840,000-bpd refinery in Ulsan.
The unit comes in response to the upcoming global 0.50% sulfur cap on marine fuel, set to come into force from January 1, 2020.
Most vessels are set to comply with the new rules by switching to low sulfur fuels.
"Due to the new unit we will be able to react more flexibly to changes in the future low sulfur oil market, which is widely expected to see an increase in price due to a global supply shortage," SK Innovation was quoted by Korea Herald as saying.
The company says it also plans to sell more low sulfur oil made in Singapore, where since 2015 it has selling 0.10% product blended using an oil tanker.
With Singapore's total ULSFO market projected to grow 30% this year, SK innovation says for 2018 it wants to double sales to 100,000 tonnes.
