Brightoil Expects to Double its Singapore Bunker Volumes in 2017 as Part of Wider Growth Plans

As part of a wider growth plan, Brightoil Petroleum (Holdings) Limited (Brightoil) expects to double its Singapore bunker sales volume in 2017, Global Bunker Director, Hans Staal has told Ship & Bunker.

"Earlier this year we only had two mass flow meter barges in Singapore. By end of this year, we will have five and subject to market conditions, we may add a sixth barge beginning 2017," said Staal.

"Going into 2017, we are looking at doubling our volume compared to this year."

In recent years, Brightoil has been steadily climbing the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA)'s list of top bunker suppliers by volume, having ranked 27th, 26th, and 23rd for 2013, 2014, and 2015 respectively.

And while Staal expects the increased volumes to move Brightoil onto Singapore's top 20 suppliers list, this is not something that is of particular focus.

"We don't necessarily want to be the biggest supplier, or the smallest for that matter," he says, stressing that meaningful growth must not come at the expense of adverse risk.

"It's ultimately about running a profitable operation. We intend to grow, but we're not growing just for the sake of it. We will soon have the capacity to increase our market share in Singapore, but we also have the setup and the expertise since we've been doing mass flow meter bunkering there since 2014."

But growing bunker volumes in Singapore is just part of the story; Brightoil also expects to achieve growth at its other physical supply locations, with its Zhoushan oil storage and terminal facility project playing a key role in this.

"As well as Singapore, we are supplying in Shanghai, Zhoushan, Ningbo and Shenzhen, and these are the areas we'll focus on in the next one to two years," says Staal.

"With the new Zhoushan storage and terminal facility, we can soon take our VLCCs straight to China, thus reducing transportation costs. Economies of scale and in-storage blending will enhance our competitiveness, not only in the local markets but also in the wider region."

Staal notes that Brightoil has 19 barges in China.

Commenting on Brightoil's growth for China, Staal said, "We are a bit more cautious in predicting our exact growth for China for 2017 as many factors affect the country's bunker demand. However, we do expect to increase our volume significantly."