Mercuria jumps into Suez Canal fueling while Egypt opens market

Minerva Bunkering, owned by Mercuria Energy Group, has started making marine fuel deliveries in Egypt, after receiving a license to enter the market earlier this month. Mercuria, which is one of the world’s largest independent energy and commodity groups, says that the Suez Canal is vital for its trading activities and moving into the market will create opportunities from being able to sell heating oil from its global network. Minerva has already made deliveries to ten bunker customers in Egypt, accessing northern and southern ports and canal convoy waiting areas, using five bunker tankers to refuel ships and a 150,000 ton Suezmax tanker for floating storage.
The move into Egypt has made Minerva the first international supplier to operate in the market and will place it in the key hub for selling heating oil to some of the 23,000 ships that navigate the waterway. CEO Tyler Baron sees an abundance of potential from the “density of freight volumes” in the region and also the ability to take advantage of the “unique positioning between East and West in terms of price centres”. Shipping companies are able to stock up on fuel whilst their Channel passage is awaited, which Baron suggests is “probably the biggest benefit”.

Tags: shipping,suez canal


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