29MAY2019 - NEWS - Shipowners see increase in IMO-compliant fuels, but doubts persist

Shipowners, who are facing one of the biggest changes in the oil industry in decades, are seeing more fuels that will be compliant with new rules on sulphur emissions from ships, but some say the way forward is far from clear.The United Nations shipping agency the International Maritime Organization (IMO) will from January 2020 limit the sulphur content in fuel ships use to 0.5%.With the exception of some zones around northwest Europe and North America known as Emission Control Areas where maximum sulphur content is restricted to 0.1% sulphur, the current global cap is 3.5%.The sulphur switch will be a mammoth task as it requires adapting the 300 million tonne a year bunker fuel market, valued at over $200 billion at current prices.Oil majors, including BP and Royal Dutch Shell , have announced they are producing very low sulphur fuels that meet the 0.5% requirements but the specifications of those products are not yet clear nor are the ports where they will be available.