Supply contracts and spot bunker sales both on table for Oman project – HutanBio

UK-based biofuel startup HutanBio plans to expand algae-based biofuel production in Oman to 8,000 mt/year by 2029, with offtaker Wakud open to both long-term shipowner contracts and spot bunker sales, chief executive Manshu Agarwal told ENGINE.

IMAGE: Algae samples. HutanBio

Last week, HutanBio announced a partnership with Oman’s Utopia World Investment (UWI) to commercialise and expand biofuel production in the country using HutanBio’s algae-based oil technology.

The project will initially be developed as a demonstration facility with production capacity of 20-30 mt/year by 2027. HutanBio then plans to expand output to 6,000–8,000 mt/year by 2029, Agarwal said.

A further “major expansion up to commercial scale” could eventually lift production capacity beyond 1 million mt/year before the plant technology is licensed globally, according to Agarwal.

Utopia is the majority shareholder of Wakud International, which owns and operates a biodiesel refinery in Oman and will offtake the project’s entire fuel output.

The company operates a solar-powered biodiesel plant in Oman’s Khazaen economic zone. Its existing infrastructure, including storage tanks, trucks and terminals, could reduce the need for major new fuel logistics investments.

As production scales up, Wakud could either supply fuel directly to shipowners under long-term agreements or distribute it through bunker suppliers for spot physical deliveries, Agarwal confirmed.

The fuel produced in Oman is expected to be primarily exported for global use, he added.

By Konica Bhatt

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