Minerva Bunkering starts ship fuel services at Saudi Arabia's Yanbu, Jeddah ports

Minerva Bunkering said Dec. 22 it has started offering marine fuels at Saudi Arabia's Red Sea ports of Yanbu and Jeddah, working with the country's energy ministry and Aramco Trading Co.

Minerva -- owned by Mercuria Energy Group, one of the world's largest privately-held energy and commodities companies -- said it was offering HSFO, VLSFO and marine gasoil, along with shoreside bulk cargo storage and two bunker tankers, the M/V Patmos and M/V Halki.

Under the deal, Minerva Bunkering and Aramco Trading will cooperate on cargo trading and supplying vessels calling at Yanbu, Minerva CEO Tyler Baron told S&P Global Platts in an interview. The Red Sea has the potential to become a large bunkering market one day. There are 19,000 vessels transiting the Suez Canal each year, plus significant vessel traffic between the Persian Gulf and Red Sea, Baron said. "The broader marine services ecosystem required in order to have a hub like the Gibraltar Straits or Fujairah doesn't exist yet in this region today, but that will change over the next five to 10 years," he said.

The Red Sea has historically offered limited bunkering options to serve the global fleet, "We believe Minerva's new operation will support the increasing number of vessels calling these ports as well as provide a highly efficient service with minimal deviation for transiting vessels needing bunkers," Baron said in the company's statement.

"We are excited to work with Minerva to expand the scope of bunkering services at the Port of Yanbu to include both domestic and international customers, and this development is in line with the kingdom's Vision 2030," Aramco Trading CEO Ibrahim al-Buainain said.

The new service will help Saudi Arabia meet its goal of accelerating growth in the local maritime economy, according to an official at the energy ministry.

Minerva Bunkering announced Dec. 20 that it had added fuel services at Argentina, providing deliveries at Buenos Aires, Zona Comun and Campana/Zarate. Offtake agreements were arranged with local refiners and the time-chartered bunker tanker MT HE MAN H.