Shipping's waterline deadline
The clock is ticking for an industry that must conform with new sulphur rules. Not everyone will be ready in time
Major infrastructural and organisation challenges confront the oil and shipping markets in the run-up to the 2020 International Maritime Organization (IMO) deadline for the introduction of an 0.5% sulphur content cap on marine fuels. It will affect the way oil refiners and traders; the bunkering industry; and the shipping industry do business. "Nobody really knows how it's going to play out," says Andrew Laven, regional manager for Middle East and Africa at the Bomin Group, a bunkering company with operations worldwide. Adrian Tolson, Senior Partner at 20/20 Marine Energy, a consultancy which advises the shipping and bunkering industry and governmental bodies, adds that "a lot of things have
Also in this section
14 April 2026
The GECF has warned it may revise its projections for demand this year downwards in light of conflict in the Middle East, although it maintains its forecasts for 2027 and onwards
13 April 2026
Petroleum Economist analysis highlights sharp shift from crude oversupply to market deficit, with Iraq and Kuwait badly affected and key producers Saudi Arabia and the UAE also seeing output sharply lower
13 April 2026
Turkmenistan is moving ahead with a modest expansion of the giant Galkynysh field to sustain gas deliveries abroad, but persistent delays to other key pipeline projects and geopolitical risks continue to constrain its export ambitions
13 April 2026
Expensive electricity has forced out swathes of energy-intensive industry and now threatens the country’s ability to attract future investment in datacentres and the digital economy






