Fuel Oil News April 2019 | Page 4

News Expanding in the marine fuels sector Major infrastructure projects L ast month the Port of Tyne, which handles a diverse range of cargoes including commodities, containers, manufactured and retail goods, renewables and offshore services, secured a £60m refinancing package. The five-year agreement with Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking comprises a £30m revolving credit facility and a £30m term loan to provide the port with the capital to develop a number of major infrastructure projects. Occupying a 250-hectare site on the River Tyne, the port is a key supporter of the government’s Maritime 2050 strategy and is set to play an important role in the UK’s long-term future as a maritime nation. The port contributes £690m to the North East economy and is the second largest car exporting port in the UK. “This partnership with Lloyds Bank will help us retain our position as one of the UK’s most innovative and efficient deep-sea ports,” said chief financial officer Mark Stoner, “The Port of Tyne is a major gateway to the North, thanks to its multimodal connectivity by sea, road and rail, which gives customers easy access to markets across the UK and around the world. “The region’s economy is reliant on the success of the port, which is why we reinvest all profits back into the business. As a self-financing organisation, this approach is essential to future growth – for us and for the businesses we work with in the North East and beyond.” Following the appointment of Varun Chhabria as group head of marine fuels back in October 2018, Greenergy has recently announced new marine fuel supply locations G reenergy has commenced the supply of marine gasoil from Thurrock, covering the Thames and South East England, and from Eastham covering the Mersey, the North West, North Wales and South Scotland. These new supply locations mark an important step in Greenergy’s ongoing expansion plans into the marine fuels sector, complementing its existing supply. As the largest road fuel supplier in the UK, Greenergy already has extensive national diesel infrastructure and is gradually extending this infrastructure to include marine gasoil to meet increasing low sulphur demand under the forthcoming IMO 2020 regulation changes. Varun Chhabria, group head of marine fuels at Greenergy explained: “As we build out our marine fuel operations, the approach we are taking is the same as for our road fuels – to earn long-term customer loyalty by supplying competitively priced fuel that is delivered on-time, and backed by Greenergy’s extensive infrastructure, supply chain and systems expertise.” 4 Fuel Oil News | April 2019 Looking to the future, the Port of Tyne – ‘one of the UK’s most innovative and efficient deep-sea ports’ – is to develop a number of major infrastructure projects