Danish boxship giant AP Moller-Maersk has signed a deal to produce low-sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) in the US.
The agreement will see Maersk source crude for PBF Logistics (PBFX) to process at its CPI Operations terminal facility in New Jersey.
The deal enables Maersk Oil Trading to supply IMO 2020-compliant 0.5% marine fuel to customers on the US east coast.
Annual production will be around 1.25m metric tonnes, about 10% of Maersk's yearly bunkers demand.
“This processing agreement forms a cornerstone in Maersk’s fuel sourcing strategy for the IMO 2020 sulphur cap,” said Niels Henrik Lindegaard, head of Maersk Oil Trading.
“The vast majority of our fleet will comply with the regulation through use of compliant low sulphur fuels.
"With the capability to produce and store compliant low sulphur fuel on the US east coast we take control of the fuel supply in a key maritime hub for us. We will continue our drive to ensure compliance in all geographies come 2020."
25,000 barrels per day to be processed
PBF Logistics acquired CPI Operations from Crown Point International in October.
Assets include crude processing and storage located on the Delaware River south of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Matt Lucey, PBF Logistics executive vice president, said: "We will repurpose a portion of the existing idled asphalt facility to process an average of approximately 25 thousand barrels per day of crude for Maersk as part of their overall IMO fuel sourcing strategy."
Last year, Maersk agreed to lease storage for 2.3m tonnes of 0.5% compliant fuel at the Vopak Europoort terminal in Rotterdam.
This was equivalent to 20% of Maersk’s annual fuel demand.
Maersk Oil Trading then made a move into the Singapore bunkering sector by leasing oil storage space there.
Reuters cited sources as saying 120,000 cbm had been secured for fuel oil for six months.
A company spokesperson told TradeWinds: "We can confirm that we have taken storage at Tankstore in Singapore."
Maersk has also changed tack on scrubbers, saying it will fit exhaust cleaning devices to some of its ships.
"As part of the preparations we have decided to invest in new scrubber technology on a limited number of vessels in our fleet of around 750 container vessels," Lindegaard said last year.
"Using scrubber technology is a small part of – and just one of several elements in – our overall 2020 fuel sourcing strategy to ensure compliance in time," he added.
Maersk had previously said it planned on using low-sulphur bunker fuel instead of scrubbers to meet IMO 2020 compliance.
