Low Sulfur Fuel in 2020- an overview of the projected maritime energy market

Below is an excerpt from Low Sulfur Fuel in 2020, aka the “Ramsey Report”. This report provides an overview of the projected maritime low sulfur fuel market for 2020, with  a concentration on petroleum fuels.  Projections made by two research consultants are compared to shed light on the uncertain future of this market.  A brief discussion is provided at the end of the report to address concerns ship owners may have.  To download a copy of the full Ramsey Report, CLICK HERE.  

IMO:  2020 Sulfur Cap-  The International Maritime Organization (IMO) announced that starting in 2020, ships must reduce sulfur emissions from 3.5% to 0.5%.  This is a drastic 85% reduction.  Other emissions (nitrogen and particulate matter) are included, but not of such high concern.  

Prior to setting this regulation, the IMO hired the consultant CE Delft (CE) to assess the availability of these low-sulfur solutions for 2020.  The IMO wanted to know if 2020 is a feasible implementation date.  The world’s largest ship owner association BIMCO (and several other organizations) hired consultant EnSys and Navigant (EN) to provide a second opinion. . . CE claims low sulfur fuel (LSF) will be available in sufficient quantities, and EN claims it will not.  This outcome reflects the complexity of this topic and difficulty in making an accurate projection.  

Low Sulfur Fuel in 2020 distills both the CE and EN reports and provides a comparison analysis.

• What did the reports agree on?
• What did the reports disagree on?
• What is the projected supply, demand, and cost of low-sulfur petroleum fuels from each report?
• What is the biggest uncertainty the industry faces?
• Why did the IMO side with one report and not the other?

For the answers to these and other questions, CLICK HERE to download the full Ramsey Report– Low Sulfur Fuel in 2020.

Michael Ramsey