\\Qatar has started offering ship-to-ship fuel bunkering at its ports in response to several of its immediate neighbors seeking to isolate the small Persian Gulf state, state-owned Qatar Petroleum announced.
“This vessel-borne fueling facility is available for all vessels lifting any Qatari seaborne imports or exports. The bunkering operations have commenced successfully after meeting all international maritime and safety standards,” the national petroleum company said in a statement.
The first of several shipments of fuel oil to Qatar for bunkering purposes had arrived safely at the country’s Ras Laffan anchorage, QP added.
It did not comment on the size, frequency or source of the expected fuel oil shipments.
Potential customer requests for bunkering would be managed in collaboration with WOQOD Marine, an affiliate of Qatar Fuel, or WOQOD, the company responsible for fuel distribution within Qatar, QP said.
The Ras Laffan port is the major Qatari facility handling exports of LNG, petrochemicals, fertilizers and aluminum, as well as imports of materials and equipment used in the adjacent Ras Laffan Industrial City.
The industrial complex at Ras Laffan includes the world’s largest concentration of LNG production facilities and biggest gas-to-liquids plant, two condensate refineries with combined capacity of 292,000 b/d, various petrochemicals and nitrogen-fertilizer production plants, and a large aluminum smelter.
“This is a first, and important, step towards self-reliance for fuel oil bunkering solutions for all vessels,” QP CEO Saad al-Kaabi said.
“Due to the unfortunate ongoing crisis, many of our clients were impacted by regional decisions limiting their ability to meet their commitments in a timely and cost-effective manner. We took it upon ourselves to assist our clients overcome this challenge by introducing measures to ensure the continuous and reliable energy supplies.
“This temporary ship-to-ship fuel bunkering facility will meet our clients’ safety and commercial expectations, and will continue until a permanent solution is implemented,” he added.
Kaabi also said QP was fast-tracking studies and the investment needed to provide independent bunkering capabilities that would be safe and reliable.
QP said the new bunkering facilities would cater to the majority of Qatar’s state-owned LNG vessel fleet while also servicing other clients. Those would include state-owned Qatar Chemical and Petrochemical Marketing and Distribution Co., or Muntajat; Hamad port — Qatar’s major commercial port, located near Doha and the Qatar Emiri Naval Forces Base, from which crude and oil products are exported; and potential free-on-board clients of Qatar loading products such as crude, LPG, condensate and naphtha.
On June 5, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar, opening the latest and most serious chapter in a long-simmering regional dispute over alleged Qatari funding of Islamist militant groups. Doha has denied any state involvement in funding such groups. Among the related actions taken by its neighbors to isolate Qatar, Saudi, UAE and Bahraini ports have banned Qatari-owned and flagged vessels and are not allowing cargoes to be loaded on other ships bound for Qatar or to be unloaded from ships arriving from Qatari ports.
The major bunkering port of Fujairah, located outside the Persian Gulf on the UAE’s Arabian Sea coast, banned any ships en route to or from Qatar from calling or bunkering at the port during the first week of the current crisis.
On June 12, the Fujairah port authority eased its shipping restrictions by allowing bunkering facility access to non-Qatari vessels calling at Qatari ports. However, the previous restrictions continue to apply to vessels seeking access to Fujairah’s VLCC jetty, which is operated by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.
Last Thursday, ADNOC reinstated restrictions on accepting tankers heading to or arriving from Qatari ports after briefly easing them earlier in the week.
Source: Platts