A cargo of fuel oil from Malaysia is making its way to a refinery on the U.S. West Coast in the first such shipment in three years. The Solomon Sea tanker, laden with more than 540,000 barrels of low-sulfur fuel oil, departed from Malaysia’s PRefChem refinery operated by state oil and gas giant Petronas last week. The cargo is set to arrive in the United States in early September.
U.S. refiners usually import fuel oil from nearby exporting countries like Mexico and Venezuela, but the tight global fuel market has made it necessary to look for new sources.
This summer, U.S. refiners have maximized capacity utilization rates and are in search of quality feedstocks from wherever available.
