Panama Canal bunkering volume up 13%

The yearly bunkering volume at Panama Canal increased by 13.5% in 2017, according to data from La Autoridad Marítima de Panamá, also known as the Panama Maritime Authority (PMA).

Total sales of marine diesel oil (MDO) at both Pacific and Atlantic entrances were up by 30.2% on year in 2017.

PMA recorded a total bunkering volume of 32.7 million barrels (4.87 million mt) of bunkers being sold in 2017, higher than 28.8 million barrels (4.29 million mt) seen in 2016.

Of the total volume in 2017, the Pacific and Atlantic entrances of the canal respectively posted bunker sales of 27.6 million barrels and 5.1 million barrels.

The Pacific entrance saw sales of 24.7 million barrels of fuel oil and 3 million barrels of MDO in 2017, while 4.3 million barrels of fuel oil and 808,000 barrels of MDO were sold at the Atlantic entrance.

During 2016, the Pacific and Atlantic entrances of the canal sold 23.8 million barrels and 5.0 million barrels of marine fuel respectively.

About 21.5 million barrels of fuel oil and 2.4 million barrels of MDO were delivered at the Pacific entrance in 2016, while 4.5 million barrels of fuel oil and 524,000 barrels of MDO were sold at the Atlantic entrance.

Note:
Conversion factor for residual fuel oil (barrels to tonnes) multiply by 0.149
Conversion factor for MDO/gasoil (barrels to tonnes) multiply by 0.133
*Conversion data provided by BP

Published: 31 January, 2018