Indian Oil Corp to start supplying IMO-compliant bunker fuel in Sep 2019: chairman
New Delhi   06-Nov-2018

State-run Indian Oil Corp. will start supplying IMO-compliant bunker fuel from September 2019, months ahead of the International Maritime Organization's deadline of early 2020, the company's chairman Sanjiv Singh told S&P Global Platts in an exclusive interview.

IndianOil will be aiming to supply more than 1 million mt/year of the cleaner fuel from its Haldia refinery on the eastern coast and the Gujarat refinery on the western coast, mainly for exports, he added.

"We are creating capacity to supply bunker fuel to meet IMO specifications. Today, we are not supplying but we have capacity," he said.

"We should be able to supply more than one 1 million mt per annum -- 100% for exports. The Haldia refinery has the capability and in the Gujarat refinery we are creating capacity," he added.

The IMO's global fuel sulfur cap is set to drop from 3.5% to 0.5% at the start of 2020. Companies are pouring in millions of dollars to upgrade their shipping fleets as the deadline for cleaner bunker fuels inches closer.