SINGAPORE: ExxonMobil is launching a mass flow metering (MFM) system for marine gasoil (MGO) refuelling barges in Singapore, with the first deliveries under the system set to start next month, the company said in a statement on Monday.
The meters will enhance the transparency of the marine refuelling, or bunkering, process by keeping better track of volumes and reduce refuelling times by up to three hours, the company said.
ExxonMobil, the world's largest publicly traded oil producer, said the new system for MGO deliveries will start ahead of a deadline Singapore authorities announced last week.
Singapore's Maritime Port Authority (MPA) said it would extend the mandatory use of MFMs to bunker barges delivering distillate fuels to large ships from July 1, 2019, ahead of an expected pick-up in the use of distillates to meet caps on sulphur content in marine fuels.
New rules by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) will significantly cut the amount of sulphur that ships can burn in their engines from 2020. The new rules will increase gasoil consumption by close to 1 million barrel per day at the expense of the high-sulphur fuel oil that is typically used to power ship engines.
Singapore, the world's largest marine refuelling hub, became the first port to mandate the use of mass flow meters in 2017, making them compulsory for marine fuel oil bunker barges licensed by the MPA.
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