World Bunkering > News > Spring 2011 > Still waiting for 380

Pakistan’s bunker supply industry has experienced some changes to the competitive situation over the past year but hopes in early 2010 that local refineries would soon be producing 380 cSt have not been borne out.

Karachi Port receives about 75% of the entire national trade and thus is the main focus of bunkering activity. It is a deep natural port with 11 km long approach channel. The port can take tankers up to 75,000 dwt and has 30 dry cargo berths, including two container terminals, and three liquid cargo-handling berths. Total monthly volumes at Karachi are believed to be about 8,000 tonnes. Karachi Port Trust (KPT) has a number of expansion and development projects in hand which are at different stages of planning, tendering and execution. These include refurbishment of Oil Pier-2 and two new container terminals.

Port Qasim is an industrial and multi-purpose port in the Indus Delta some 30 miles southeast of Karachi. It has good transport connections and has been playing an increasingly important part in the country’s economic development. Bunkering takes place at Port Qasim but not during the May-August monsoon season.

Pakistan’s latest port, Gwadar, has just been built on the Baluchistan Coast. It is about 285 miles from Karachi and 75 miles from the Iranian border. Situated at the entrance to the Middle East Gulf, this new port has the potential to become a regional transhipment hub and to become a significant bunker port.

For the time being, however, Pakistani suppliers at all the ports are restricted to selling cSt 180. Adil Sher, Orion Bunkers’ director, international marine sales, says: “As far as IFO 380 cSt is concerned, our refineries are working on it but no-one is producing at the moment. As soon as they introduce the product to the market, we will supply it.”

Orion Bunkers is the only bunker company in Pakistan with its own storage tanks for IFO, MGO, and MDO, and runs a fleet of seven self-propelled barges, which can carry all grades. It also has a fleet of tanker trucks for supplying at the berth. Last year, one of Orion’s founders, Muhammad Yousuf, left to establish a separate firm, Ocean Bunkers. Mr Sher comments: “We have good and healthy competition in Pakistan and Orion Bunkers enjoy the lion’s share.”

Mr Yousouf says Ocean Bunkers delivers bunkers using its own self-propelled barges. He confirms that, despite expectations last year, 380 cSt is not available in Pakistan yet. Looking at the country’s bunker scene he says: “The main challenge which we are facing here is the shortage of power generation, as power generation companies greatly depend on fuel supplied by the local refineries for generating power and due to their huge fuel requirements, sometimes we encounter short supply of fuels from local refineries for bunker supply to our ships. This is because in some cases the local refineries prefer to supply fuel to power generation companies. The second big issue is that some unrealistic parties quote inaccurate offers to the bunker traders.”

Long-established Faisal Marine Oil Services supplies 180 cSt and MDO and MGO at Karachi and Bin Qasim. The company operates a fleet of six barges, including the recently acquired 1,500 dumb barge Fillgo VI. It says it has plans to increase its fleet further. Among other players in the market, the Pakistan State Oil Company supplies the Pakistan Navy, Maritime Security Agency, Karachi Port Trust, and PNSC, while Bosicor Pakistan Limited (BPL), which operates a coastal refinery about 30 miles from Karachi, also supplies bunkers. Plimsol Bunkering Services (PBS) supplies MDO and MGO to the international market using its fleet of six small barges.