World Bunkering >Articles > Company profiles > Lukoil-Bunker Italy

For a long time it has been rumoured that Lukoil-Bunker OOO was going to expand in the Mediterranean market; now it has happened.

The ISAB refinery, one of the largest in the region, presented Lukoil-Bunker with an opportunity to make inroads into the western European refinery business.

The ISAB refinery has its own production capacity in two ports: ISAB Nord-Augusta and ISAB-South-Santa Panagia.

Port Augusta is the third largest for bunker sales in Italy, with annual volumes of 370-400,000 mt. Thanks to its central position in the Mediterranean Sea, it is the most important Italian port for bunker, crew turnover, vessels repairs and maintenance.

Santa Panagia Bay, where the ISAB-South Terminal has its own pier, is located at about 25km south of Augusta. The pier has five docking bays, is about 1,600 metres long and can accommodate ships of up to 400,000 dwt.

Furthermore, Port Augusta experiences very good weather conditions and provides a good alternative to Malta, which suffers from harsh winds, especially during the winter months. All these factors confirm the existing potential of this region for bunker supply.

For bunker purposes, Lukoil-Bunker Italy S.R.L. was established in December 2009. The subsidiary is already operating in Sicily and is fully owned by Lukoil-Bunker OOO, St Petersburg. Negotiations are currently taking place with the ISAB refinery regarding the possibility of producing regular high-sulphur 380 cSt bunker fuel and 0.1% sulphur MGO in volumes required for the market. In Italy, the sulphur content is not standardised, and the majority of supplied product in that region is fuel with sulphur content of up to 4.5%

The fuel produced at ISAB has a sulphur content of not more than 2.5%. Consequently, it provides a more attractive product for some Lukoil-Bunker clients.

An agreement has recently been reached with a barge operator who is happy to provide Lukoil-Bunker with barge facilities in Augusta harbor, and Lukoil-Bunker Italy S.R.L.’s first cargo delivery was made at the end of June 2010, when 6,000 mt of HS380 was loaded.

Lukoil-Bunker sees a potential for monthly marine fuels sales of about 10,000 mt at Augusta, but also plans to undertake some deep market research to understand the needs of the area in order to become a reliable supplier throughout the region.

Lukoil-Bunker OOO is a major bunker supplier in Russia and is also active, via its sister companies, in Bulgaria, Turkey, and Romania.

Contact information for Lukoil-Bunker :

Lukoil-Bunker OOO
Tel: + 7 812 346 81 30/31
Fax: + 7 812 346 81 32
E-mail: bunker@lukoil-bunker.com

Lukoil-Bunker Italy S.R.L.
Tel: +39 0931 207620
Fax: +39 0931 207621
E-mail: office@lukoil-bunker.it