A growing move into the residual fuels market has bumped up the amount of fuel oil stored in Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs).
At least eight tankers are now anchored in south Malaysian waters acting as floating storage, mostly for fuel oil.
Trading firms are hoping to capitalise on firm margins in the Asian market. Companies riding the trend include Swiss trader Mercuria Energy Trading and Southern Petrochemical, an affiliate of China's Sinopec Group.
Land-based storage in southern Malaysia and Singapore is largely full or under contract and that low tanker rates have made VLCCs an attractive storage option.
The vessels are anchored close to the Singapore fuel oil and bunker hub, where bunker demand has remained strong despite the global recession.
Singapore recorded marine fuel sales of more than 20.9647 million tonnes in the first seven months this year, slightly up on the same period in 2008 with demand expected to remain strong.
To find out more about Asian storage space demand attend Tank Storage Asia expo & conference from 19-29 November in Singapore.
For more information visit: http://www.tankstorageevents.com/tsasia/index.shtml
