Rosneft’s Syzran refinery sells first batch IMO 2020-compliant fuel

Rosneft PJSC subsidiary JSC Syzran Refinery has sold and loaded the first batch of low-sulfur fuel oil (LSFO) that complies with the International Marine Organization’s (IMO) new regulations requiring ships to use marine fuels with a sulfur content below 0.5% from its 8.5 million-tonnes/year Syzran refinery in Russia’s Samara region.

The refinery’s first 700-tonne batch of residual marine low-sulfur (RMLS-40) E II was delivered for loading to the port of Novorossiysk in the Black Sea on June 16, Rosneft said.

The company, however, disclosed no details regarding the buyer.

With a sulfur content of no more than 0.5%, the RMLS 40 E II forms one part of Rosneft’s new product line that complies with IMO’s Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL Convention), which lowered the maximum sulfur content of marine fuel oil used in ocean-going vessels from 3.5% to 0.5% beginning Jan. 1, 2020. The operator also offers RMLS 40 E I, which features a sulfur content of no more than 0.1%.

This initial sale of RMLS 40 E II follows the Syzran refinery’s start of production of the IMO-compliant marine fuel in May, according to a May 21 release from the operator.

Alongside the Syzran refinery, Rosneft said it also currently produces the RMLS 40 product line at its Russian refining subsidiaries’ following operations:

• LLC RN-Komsomolsk Refinery’s 8.3 million-tpy refinery in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Khabarovsk Territory.
• JSC Achinsk Refinery VNK’s 7.5 million-tpy refinery in Bolsheuluisky District, Krasnoyarsk Territory.
• JSC Angarsk Petrochemical Co.’s 10.2 million-tpy refinery in Angarsk, Irkutsk Region.
• JSC Ryazan Oil Refining Co.’s 17.1 million-tpy refinery in Russia’s Central Federal District, about 120 miles southeast of Moscow.
• PJSC ANK Bashneft’s 23.5 million-tpy integrated refining complex in Ufa, which includes Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim’s 9.5 million-tpy refinery, Bashneft-Novoil’s 7.4 million-tpy refinery, and Bashneft-UNPZ’s 6.6 million-tpy refinery.

Production of RMLS 40 marine fuels forms a key element of Rosneft’s 2022 strategy, which aims to reduce the company’s overall environmental impact and increase production of environmentally friendly fuels via implementation of multiple large-scale projects to upgrade its existing refining assets, the operator said.

In first-quarter 2020, Rosneft said its refining subsidiaries supplied 112,000 tonnes of RMLS 40 E II fuel to both domestic and foreign shipowners.