Petronas flips from gasoil exporter to importer on spec changes

Malaysia’s national oil company Petronas has flipped from being an exporter to an importer of gasoil in the lead-up to the country’s switchover to lower sulfur gasoil in less than two months’ time, trading sources said. Tightening specifications aimed at improving the quality of gasoline and gasoil used nationwide will see Malaysia moving to Euro-II compliant motor fuels, known as 2M fuel. Malaysia will move from its current standard of gasoil with a sulfur content of 3,000 parts per million (ppm) to 500ppm. The impending change is not without difficulty, with Petronas unable to meet forecasted demand for the new 500ppm sulfur gasoil standard, prompting the scramble to import cargoes before the switchover. (July 28, 2009)