Gas
Singapore records September rise in marine biofuel demand
Maritime biofuel consumption in Singapore rebounded in September, according to IndexBox data, while liquefied natural gas bunker sales experienced a decline.
Key points
- Singapore bio-blended bunker sales reached 81,000 metric tonnes in September.
- Liquefied natural gas bunker volumes dropped by twelve percent over the same monthly period.
- Pure biofuel transactions continued for a consecutive sixth month, reaching 2,600 metric tonnes.
What happened
Maritime fuel data released by IndexBox indicates that Singapore increased its daily movement of bio-bunkers to approximately 2,700 metric tonnes per day during September. This represents an upward movement from the 1,800 metric tonnes recorded in August, based on preliminary information from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. Total bio-blended product transactions expanded by 43 percent to reach 81,000 metric tonnes for the month, marking the highest monthly volume since March. Nevertheless, this total remains 30 percent lower than the 115,000 metric tonnes registered during the corresponding period in the previous year.
A breakdown of the monthly activity shows that petroleum products combined with biological components constituted the vast majority of the volume. Specifically, very low sulphur fuel oil mixed with renewable additives advanced to 76,000 metric tonnes, recovering from August levels of 48,000 metric tonnes. Conversely, high sulphur fuel oil variants containing biological components dropped from 9,000 metric tonnes to zero during the same timeframe. Fully renewable bunker transactions, known as B100, continued for a sixth consecutive month, registering approximately 2,600 metric tonnes compared to 800 metric tonnes in August. Between January and September, aggregate biofuel sales reached 571,000 metric tonnes, trailing behind the 1.14 million metric tonnes observed during the first nine months of the previous year.
Market shifts in alternative marine fuels
Simultaneously, alternative propulsion fuels experienced mixed fortunes at the global hub. Liquefied natural gas bunker purchases contracted by 12 percent, moving from 59,000 metric tonnes in August down to 52,000 metric tonnes in September. Despite the monthly contraction, cumulative liquefied natural gas uptake for the first nine months of the year climbed to nearly 487,000 metric tonnes, surpassing the 401,000 metric tonnes recorded during the same timeframe twelve months prior. Meanwhile, methanol transactions remained entirely absent for the seventh month in a row, and ammonia marine fuels recorded zero commercial activity throughout the year to date.
Why it matters
For African energy markets, particularly major maritime and petroleum nations such as Nigeria, shifts in bunkering trends at key global hubs offer important signals regarding the pace of international shipping decarbonisation. While Singapore maintains a fully electrified domestic profile and extensive clean energy infrastructure—supporting an electricity use per person of 9,946.7 kilowatt-hours in 2024 according to World Bank figures—its marine fuel mix illustrates the gradual and uneven adoption of alternative marine energy sources. As international maritime regulations tighten, African ports and petroleum producers must monitor these global shifts to anticipate future demand patterns for blended fuels and cleaner propulsion options. The interplay between traditional petroleum products, priced alongside global benchmarks such as Brent crude at 126.55 US dollars per barrel in October 2026 according to US EIA data, and emerging biofuels will heavily influence refining investments across developing economies.
Original reporting
This article draws on the following reports. Read them in full on the publishers’ sites.
Context from CEII
Gas is the flexible backbone of many grids and the designated transition fuel in many national plans, from LNG trade to domestic LPG and CNG. Supply security and pricing drive both power reliability and emissions.
93.1% of electricity in Singapore came from gas in 2024Countries in this story
Written by the CEII Desk, the Centre’s automated newsroom, from the reporting credited above and CEII’s own data. Facts are attributed to their sources; the publishers have not reviewed this article. Spotted an error? Tell our editors.
