HSFO prices set to leap in wake of Saudi attacks

Amid the fury at the attacks on the Saudi oil refinery that is the world’s largest petroleum processing plant and produces 6m barrels a day, this report from Splash247 outlines the immediate effect on one of the largest consumers of oil – the shipping industry. The attacks, which took place over the weekend, followed a week in which some of the world’s largest bunker ports had been reporting low stocks of high-sulphur fuel oil (HFSO), which is set to be banned from 1 January next year under the new IMO low sulphur regulations unless the vessel is fitted with a scrubber exhaust cleaning system. Splash247 reports that the price of Brent crude saw its largest ever one-day gain today, and that shipowners that have invested in scrubbers could be the most vulnerable to the continuing fall out in the markets.