ExxonMobil has completed its first marine oil bulk delivery, but China Aviation Oil has stepped away from increasing its Asian storage capacity.
ExxonMobil delivered its first bulk order of MobilGard 570 cylinder oil to Shanghai, shipped the lubricants via a 278 deadweight-ton barge. The state-of-the-art vessel, on two-year lease to ExxonMobil, is equipped with a 1.5 metric ton crane to ensure accurate and efficient offloading.
MobilGard 570 is formulated using high-quality, heavy neutral basestocks, rather than the bright stocks traditionally refined for cylinder oil which tend to have less thermal and oxidative stability. The high-grade marine lubricant is used for engine designs that incorporate higher combustion gas pressures or temperatures and, according to ExxonMobil, helps to increase engine reliability and prevent acid corrosion.
The oil is set to be replaced by the more advanced MobileGard 560 VS for slow-speed diesel engines later this year.
Meanwhile there was a setback for China Aviation Oil (CAO) which had planned to expand its storage capacity with a new avgas terminal in Malaysia. The leading aviation fuel buyer had announced a joint venture, in October last year, with the country's Centralised Terminals to create a 2.39m barrel storage terminal in the Tanjung Langsat Port.
Despite the plans being well advanced, with an operational date slated for 2013, the project has now been halted after it emerged that certain elements of the build would take longer than originally planned. However, according to CAO, the decision would "not have any material impact" on the company or its future and plans were already being made to lease or invest in additional storage facilities in the Singapore area.