Indonesia has been supplying bio-bunker blends for more than half a decade – Pertamina

Indonesia’s fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) regulation has been in force for several years and mandated bunker suppliers to sell B30 biogasoil blends to the domestic market.

PHOTO: Vessels at the Port of Tanjung Priok in Indonesia. Translog Today

These biogasoil blends are generally made up of 30% FAME and 70% MGO, with the biofuel component derived from palm oil, a source says. The FAME regulation was primarily implemented to support the palm industry and reduce fuel costs. Indonesia is one of the world’s largest producers of palm oil.

Pertamina started supplying B5-20 biogasoil blends (5%-20% biofuel blended) to ships back in 2015. The firm later introduced a B30 blend in 2019, a source says.

These biogasoil blends are readily available for bunkering Indonesia’s Jakarta, Surabaya and Batam ports.

Global production and supply of biofuels for bunkering has been at a relatively nascent stage until recently, and suppliers and ports across all the world's continents are now ramping up capacity. But Indonesia appears to be significantly ahead of them in terms of biofuel blending capacity and mandates to stimulate production.

However, the shipping market is largely unaware of these biogasoil availabilities in Indonesia. Because we focus more on domestic bunker sales over international, we are yet to decide on how to market these biogasoil blends for the international shipping market, a source from Pertamina said.

Ocean-going vessels have not shown much interest in our B30 biogasoil blend, preferring to bunker VLSFO and conventional MGO instead. This has prevented us from widely marketing the product, the supplier adds.

On the other hand, several biofuel projects are either already in place or being developed in the nearby Singapore, the biggest bunker hub in the region and in the world. Some of these initiatives aim to increase availability of biofuel blends derived from sustainable and environmentally friendly waste-based feedstocks.

Similar to Indonesia, the Philippines has had a FAME regulation in place for several years for gasoil blending. The regulation mandates bunker suppliers to sell LSMGO blended with 2.2% FAME based on coco methyl ester, which is derived from coconut oil.

 By Nithin Chandran

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