Shell to launch bunker operations in UAE, Oman

Royal Dutch Shell will launch bunker operations at the United Arab Emirates’ Jebel Ali port in mid-2011. It wants to expand its marine fuel business in the Middle East over the next three to five years, a senior executive said. The oil major, which operates in more than 800 ports globally, will set up a barge in the busy oil blending center and will offer fuels and lubricants to vessels both on a long-term contract and on a spot basis. “It is going to be one of the highest capacity barges worldwide for lubricants as well as fuels,” Moustafa Khater, regional business optimization manager at Shell Marine Products, told Reuters. The company is currently delivering only lubricants to the Jebel Ali port via trucks. (November 26, 2010)