Vitol opens bunker trading service

Dutch energy and commodity trading company Vitol announced May 25 it was opening a bunker trading service, catering to the shipping industry's need for IMO 2020-complaint fuels.

Vitol Bunkers will support international demand for high-quality marine fuels.

“Vitol has for decades been a leading global trader in bunker fuels,” Vitol Global Bunkering account manager Chris Young said. “Today, we are excited to be extending our services and we look forward to delivering the highest quality marine fuels to new and existing customers, across key locations.”

For now, Vitol will bunker very low sulphur fuel oil, ultra-low sulphur fuel oil, gasoil and other more conventional options, though a spokesperson told NGW that those options would likely expand. 

As part of the energy transition, the Dutch trading house said last month it expected that demand for LNG, natural gas and liquid petroleum gas will increase as economies move away from coal.

Vitol had previously announced it has committed some $1bn toward renewable energy projects, but added it was supplementing that spend with investments in LNG and gas products. Having entered the LNG market in 2006, Vitol said it traded an estimated 10mn mt of the super-cooled gas last year. As part of its $1bn in renewable investments to date, meanwhile, the company said it was keenly focused on biogas projects, mostly in the US.