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Bunkering activities have this week resumed at the inland ports of San Lorenzo and Rosario for the first time in two-and-a-half years, Argentinian bunker supplier Risler S.A. has told Bunker Index.

Refiner Oil Combustibles S.A., which operates a plant in San Lorenzo, has begun to make product available for the bunker market again having previously concentrated on utilizing fuel oil produced at the refinery to cover power generation demand.

"The power generation market is focusing more on the use of gas (like in the past), so fuel is being left for the bunker market and local agricultural and service station consumption," Risler explained on Monday.

The Oil Combustibles refinery in San Lorenzo has the capacity to process 8,000 cubic metres of crude per day, which is eight percent of Argentina's total refining capacity. The facility has a storage capacity of 340,000 cubic metres and comprises 84 tanks for the storage of a range of products, including crude, fuel oil, asphalt, naptha and middle distillates.

Risler, which is currently the only company supplying in San Lorenzo and Rosario, is offering low-sulphur 380 centistoke (cSt) intermediate fuel oil (IFO) with a maximum sulphur content of 1 percent, and DMA-specification marine gas oil (MGO) with a maximum sulphur concentration of 0.2 percent; low-sulphur 0.1 percent MGO is not available in the so-called 'Up River' ports of the Parana river.

"As of today, there is good product availability, so we will most probably start to carry out deliveries this week," Risler revealed.

Risler says its bunker vessel, the MT Sofia R, will be used exclusively for deliveries in San Lorenzo and Rosario. The barge is able to store up to 440 metric tonnes of 380 cSt and 20 metric tonnes of MGO. Its pumping rate is 150 metric tonnes per hour.

Contact details for Risler have been provided below.

Phone: +54 11 4393 0723
Email: baires@risler.com.ar

Address:
540 Tucuman Street, 28th Floor
1049 Buenos Aires
Argentina