Page 61: of Maritime Logistics Professional Magazine (May/Jun 2018)

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workshop attendee commented that low-sulfur fuels will shift demand for high quality petroleum stocks, skewing overall supplies to such an extent that fuel prices across the board will

Luca Volta is Marine Fuels Ven- start to rise. ture Manager with ExxonMobil.

In its Voyager newsletter in January ExxonMobil writes that it will supply 0.5% fuels in ports “in Northwest Europe, the

Volta was asked to expand on the

Mediterranean and Singapore. Additional locations will be announced ahead of the January 1, 2020 deadline.” Exxon- 0.5% supply issue. He compared

Mobil writes that its “fuels will include residual and distillate grades” and that the company is “at a very advanced stage in the upcoming fuel switch, with the development of these fuels, therefore making us well posi- just a bit of exaggeration, to the tioned ahead of the IMO’s 2020 implementation date.”

The foregoing ExxonMobil optimism sounds like a smooth move from coal to liquids. One pathway, but the bigger picture is far more complex, present- ing many challenges, not just with production, but across the major set of issues will come from board, including handling, storage and shipboard logistics.

fuel blending, or, perhaps more

The Big Picture likely, requirements for fuel segre-

Luca Volta is Marine Fuels Venture Manager with Exxon-

Mobil. Volta was asked to expand on the 0.5% supply issue. gation. Volta described the 0.5%

He compared the upcoming fuel switch, with just a bit of ex- aggeration, to the move from coal to liquids. One major set of fuels as products that will require issues will come from fuel blending, or, perhaps more likely, increased focus on storage, han- dling and maintenance in order to retain maximum emissions and combustion characteristics.”

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