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INTERVIEW: Price risk management for future marine fuels more complex, forecasts ElbOil

Maritime sector may find it increasingly challenging to manage bunker prices, Dennis Ho, Managing Director at ElbOil Singapore tells Singapore bunkering publication Manifold Times.
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The following interview arranged by Conference Connection is part of pre-event coverage for the upcoming 12th International Fujairah Bunkering & Fuel Oil Forum (FUJCON 2021), where Manifold Times is an official media partner. Readers can register for the virtual event by clicking on the link here. 

It will be increasingly difficult for the maritime and shipping sectors to manage bunker price risk volatilities when the industry starts adopting cleaner marine fuels, believes the Managing Director of marine fuels trading company ElbOil Singapore Pte Ltd.

“In order to meet the deadlines of IMO 2030 and 2050, a slate of clean fuels such as biofuels, ammonia and methanol will eventually be adopted by ship owners and operators,” Dennis Ho tells Singapore bunkering publication Manifold Times.

“In days priors to 2020, price risk management was straightforward. One will just hedge their physical bunker exposure with cargo indexes such as MOPS 180cst, 380cst, Gasoil, Rotterdam Barges swaps or crude indices like Brent futures which has lot of liquidity while being closely correlated to the respective bunker fuel grades and regions.

“Moving into 2020, the price index for VLSFOs (Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil) was initially pegged to the more expensive 10ppm gasoil less a discount. Looking at the chart [attached], the 0.5 Marine Fuel Oil vs Gasoil 10ppm (affectionally known at 5go) has seen a lot of volatility of almost USD100 per mt at its peak.

ElbOil graph

“Effectively, this means anyone that used Gasoil 10ppm as a hedge early in 2020 would not have done well as one would had to pay much higher for the physical VLSFO. Conversely, anyone who bought a VLSFO physical delivery basis Gasoil 10ppm index earlier would have benefitted from the wild swing in the spreads.

“It took almost a year for the 0.5 Marine Fuel index to eventually gain a certain level of liquidity for physical contracts to be priced on. It’s liquidity, however, compared to high sulphur indexes before 2020 is still low.”

Similar to the price volatility seen by the VLSFO market in early 2020; a future scenario of new clean bunker fuels facing similar price risk fluctuations due to the market grappling with a proxy index to manage price exposure may exist, forecasts Ho.

“Even today, price determination for LNG (liquefied natural gas) as bunkers in the Asian spot market is a challenge.  LNG cargoes in Asia are priced off the JKM index (Japan-Korean marker) which itself has relatively low liquidity,” he explains.

“Going forward, as the type of bunker fuels becomes more diverse, managing price exposures will mean having to use different indices to hedge. Thus losing some levels of economies of scale as players will need to maintain different mark-to-markets and different sets of margin maintenance with different exchanges.

“That is provided if there is an index to hedge on in the first place for the alternative cleaner fuel.”

Ho encouraged shipowners, operators and bunker buyers to actively manage their respective price exposures.

“Having some form of a price risk management program is better than none.  And it’s always good to have a conversation with industry experts,” he shares.

“ElbOil, with its team of experienced traders in Europe and Asia, is on hand to face this new challenge. Each risk management solution is unique and we are able to design a custom hedging solution that suits our clients.

“As a licensed entity to trade biofuels and carbon credits, ElbOil is confident to serve the evolving bunker fuel needs of the shipping industry.”

Note: Dennis Ho will be speaking at Session 4A: Risk Management & Oil Storage at FUJCON 2021.

 

Photo credit: ElbOil
Published: 23 March, 2021

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Legal

Singapore withdraws remaining 127 charges against Hin Leong founder OK Lim

Lim Oon Kuin, also known as OK Lim, was issued a stern warning and a district court granted him a discharge amounting to an acquittal for these charges on 17 July.

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Founder of collapsed oil trader Hin Leong Trading, Lim Oon Kuin, also known as OK Lim, has had the remaining 127 charges against him withdrawn, according to The Straits Times on Monday (20 July). 

OK Lim was issued a stern warning and a district court granted him a discharge amounting to an acquittal for these charges, including those for cheating, on 17 July. The discharge means Lim cannot be prosecuted again for the same offences.

Lim, 84, is currently serving a 13½-year prison sentence after the High Court reduced his original 17½-year jail term in March 2026. He was convicted in 2024 on two cheating charges and one count of abetting forgery in a case prosecutors described as one of Singapore’s most serious trade finance frauds.

Lim was convicted in May 2024 of two charges of cheating the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) and one count of abetting forgery that proceeded to trial out of a total of 130 criminal charges.

He was first charged in court on 14 August 2020, and was subsequently handed further charges in court on 25 September 2020, 30 April 2021 and 24 June 2021 for his role in perpetuating fraud on various financial institutions. 

A total of 130 charges were eventually brought against him for cheating and forgery-related offences.

Related: Singapore: Hin Leong Founder OK Lim gets jail term slashed to 13.5 years

 

Photo credit: Sora Shimazaki
Published: 21 July, 2026

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Winding up

Singapore: Coastal Logistics Pte Ltd to be wound up voluntarily

Coastal Logistics was reportedly affiliated with troubled Singapore bunker player Coastal Oil (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

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July 21, 2026

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RESIZED Drew Beamer

Several resolutions for Coastal Logistics Pte Ltd were made during an extraordinary general meeting held on 14 July, according to a notice in the Government Gazette on Friday (4 July).

The following resolutions were duly passed during the meeting:

As Special Resolution

  • That it has been proved to the satisfaction of the meeting that the Company cannot by reason of its liabilities continue its business and accordingly the Company be wound up voluntarily pursuant to Section 160(1)(b) of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (No. 40 of 2018);

As Ordinary Resolutions

  • that Mr. Wong Pheng Cheong Martin and Ms. Koay May Yee, both care of FTI Consulting (Singapore) Pte Ltd, One Raffles Quay, #27-10 South Tower, Singapore 048583 be appointed as the joint and several Liquidators of the Company for the purpose of such winding up; and
  • that the Liquidators be at liberty to open, maintain and operate any bank account(s) or account(s) for monies received by them as Liquidators with such bank(s) as they deem fit; and
  • that a Committee of Inspection will not be formed.

Manifold Times previously reported Nicholas James Gronow, director of Heng Tong Fuels & Shipping and Coastal Logistics, filed statutory declarations for both companies stating the firms cannot continue their businesses due to liabilities.

Both companies were reportedly affiliated with troubled Singapore bunker player Coastal Oil (Singapore) Pte Ltd. 

In 2019, several vessels owned by both firms entered the sale & purchase (S&P) market in Singapore.

Related: Singapore: Director declares Heng Tong Fuels & Shipping’s inability to continue business
Related: Heng Tong Fuels & Shipping in court over DBS Bank bunker tanker loan
Related: Singapore: Bunker tanker “Coastal Neptune” arrested
Related: Heng Tong Fuels & Shipping, Coastal Logistics tankers enter S&P market

 

Photo credit: Drew Beamer
Published: 21 July, 2026

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LNG Bunkering

PIL’s LNG dual-fuel boxship “Kota Elok” arrives in Singapore on maiden call

As the first of 13 new 13,000 TEU vessels joining its fleet, Kota Elok is equipped to operate on LNG and low-sulphur fuel oil that helps reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

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PIL's LNG dual-fuel boxship “Kota Elok” arrives in Singapore on maiden call

Singapore-based Pacific International Lines Pte Ltd on Monday (20 July) said its first 13,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel container vessel, Kota Elok, recently made her maiden call to Singapore on 15 July.

As the first of 13 new 13,000 TEU vessels joining its fleet, Kota Elok is equipped to operate on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and low-sulphur fuel oil that helps reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. 

The vessel also incorporated energy-saving features and digital technologies to reduce fuel consumption and enhance operational performance, as well as a bow windshield to improve aerodynamics, contributing to improved fuel efficiency and lower emissions over the course of long-haul voyages.

“Following Singapore, Kota Elok will continue her voyage on our East Coast Service 1 (ES1) route to South America, calling at ports in Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina before returning to Asia,” the company said in a social media post. 

Kota Elok also became PIL’s first vessel to receive Lloyd’s Register certification for compliance with the IACS UR E26 and UR E27 cyber security requirements.

Developed by the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), UR E26 and UR E27 are mandatory cyber resilience requirements for newbuild vessels contracted from 1 July 2024. 

 

Photo credit: Pacific International Lines
Published: 21 July, 2026

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