Disclaimer: An online translation service was used in the production of the current editorial piece.

The international shipping and oil industry gathered on Wednesday (10 November) at the Zhoushan International Conference Center to attend a conference focusing, amongst others, on the global marine fuel market development trends and solutions leading to IMO 2030 and IMO 2050, according to a report from the Zhoushan Bonded Ship Fuel Association. 

Affected by the epidemic, the forum used online viewing and communication for the first time, and invited more than 150 guests from well-known domestic and foreign oil and gas companies, as well as marine oil-related storage and transportation, trade, refining, maritime services, finance, and information consulting services. 

The development of the Chinese bonded marine fuel industry, low-carbon transition and discussions on how to develop and respond to the global marine fuel market leading up to IMO 2030/2050 took place at the event.

The content of the event was broadcasted live in both Chinese and English through CCTV, China News Network, Sina Weibo, and more.

The forum was hosted by China Shipowners Association, China Petroleum Circulation Association, Zhoushan Port Comprehensive Bonded Zone Management Committee, Zhejiang Seaport Investment Operation Group Co., Ltd., Zhoushan Bonded Ship Fuel Association, Sinopec Fuel Oil Sales Co., Ltd., PetroChina Fuel Oil Co., Ltd., China Marine Fuel Co., Ltd., Shanghai Futures Exchange, Fuel Oil Branch of Shanghai Petroleum Products Trade Association.

The forum started with a live presentation of the major reform achievements in the oil and gas field in Zhejiang Pilot Free Trade Zone focusing on the main business. 

Chen Lin, member of the Party Leadership Group of Zhoushan Municipal People’s Government, Secretary of the Party Working Committee and Director of the Management Committee of Zhoushan High-tech Industrial Park (Zhoushan Port Comprehensive Bonded Zone, Zhoushan Aviation Industrial Park), delivered a speech for the forum through a video connection. 

Sun Hougang, Executive Director of the Marine Fuel Industry Committee of the China Petroleum Circulation Association, announced the rankings of the Top Ten Global Ship Refueling Ports and Top Ten Global Ship Refueling Companies in 2020, and provided an introduction of the world’s top ten ship refueling ports and companies.  

Zhoushan Port’s refueling volume in 2020 reached 4.7 million tons, ranking sixth in the world, up two places from 2019. 

Wei Xiaohong, Deputy Secretary of the Party Working Committee, Deputy Director of the Management Committee of Zhoushan High-tech Industrial Park, and Deputy Director of the Management Committee of Zhoushan Port Comprehensive Bonded Zone, introduced to the guests developments of the Zhejiang Free Trade Pilot Zone in the Northeast Asia bonded marine fuel refueling center in the past year. 

He said China has made new achievements and new progress, and has put forward six major work measures for the next step of building  a world-class port.

Keynote Speeches

In the keynote speech session, six guests from different fields brought forward an exchange of thoughts. 

Liu Zurong, executive director of Sinopec Fuel Oil Sales Co., Ltd., presented a video highlighting the development of Zhoushan’s marine fuel supply industry. 

The video showed that as an enterprise, Zhoushan was earlier unable to produce oil; today, the port is an integrated node within China’s entire oil and gas industry supply chain.

E Hongda, general manager of China Marine Fuel Co., Ltd., introduced the theme Global Marine Fuel Development Trends, Challenges and Opportunities.

He analysed the development status of the global marine fuel supply market together with challenges encountered by the marine fuel supply industry in the post-epidemic era, and predicted that China’s competitiveness in the global marine fuel supply market will continue to increase.

He forecast the global marine fuel supply market to move eastward under the background of sustainable trends and low carbon fuels and put forward development suggestions from the three aspects of the country, shipping companies, and oil supply companies.

Li Hui, Deputy General Manager of the Shanghai Futures Exchange, made a presentation on Building an Integrated Derivatives Market System for Low-Sulfur Fuel Oil Futures. 

The Shanghai Futures Exchange stated it has planned for a low-sulfur fuel oil futures pricing system to meet the different needs of enterprises in the industry chain.

Zhu Maijin, Director and General Manager of COSCO SHIPPING Energy Transportation Co., Ltd. shared the strategic choices of oil and gas shipowners under IMO 2030 and IMO 2050 and proposed from the customer’s perspective that low-carbon emission reduction and green projects are the only way for oil and gas shipowners to achieve sustainable development.

Karl Kleemeier, head of the regional oil market and joint region, at Argus Asia introduced the current market conditions of low-sulfur fuel oil price evaluation system in Asia from a global perspective, providing an effective reference for Zhoushan’s innovative breakthroughs and continuous improvement of the international competitiveness of the fuel supply market.

Ye Dongsheng, General Manager of ENN LNG (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. gave a speech on LNG helping the shipping industry to achieve IMO 2030 and IMO 2050. He also analysed the aspects of infrastructure, policy support, safety supervision, technological innovation, and Zhoushan’s advantages as an international refueling center.

Photo credit and source: Zhoushan Bonded Ship Fuel Association
Published: 12 November, 2021