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Turkish physical bunker supplier Energy Petrol Shipping Trade Industry Inc. says it achieved a 38 percent increase in sales volumes last year.

In an emailed message, founder and CEO Mustafa Muhtaroglu told Bunker Index today that the company achieved "impressive growth in 2015", supplying 347,000 tonnes of marine fuel compared with 252,000 tonnes in 2014.

"We are not [a] volume-concerned company, but rather a service and quality-oriented supplier," Muhtaroglu stressed. "In this respect, we are very proud of supplying our clients on time with no significant quality and quantity issues."

According to Turkey's Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) - or Enerji Piyasası Düzenleme Kurumu (EPDK) in Turkish - Energy Petrol currently has a market share of 15 percent in Istanbul, the country's largest bunker port. Sales of marine fuel at the port are estimated to be around 2 million tonnes per annum.

CFO Yesim Muhtaroglu remarked: "We have very healthy financials, operating without any cash credit lines since 2008. We have no bad debts and have sharp 30 days collection time for 99 percent of our invoices."

Board member Deniz Muhtaroglu, who is the firm's head of sales, said: "Analysing past and current sales, we have rapidly increased our physical sales and become [the] number three supplier in Turkey as per official reports published by [the] oil authority."

Highlighting the progress being made by the company, he added: "We sold 40,000 tonnes in December 2015, almost double the volume sold in December 2014, so we are on track."

Energy Petrol currently operates a fleet of 11 barges, which includes four newbuild vessels and the Deniz M - said to be the biggest bunker barge currently in service in Istanbul.

The 2001-built 3659-deadweight-tonne (dwt) vessel (previously named MT Safir) was acquired by Energy Petrol in 2014 for cargo replenishments.

The newbuilds MT Demre 2 and MT Demre 3 were constructed in 2013, whilst the 810-dwt MT Demre 4 was built in 2014. The company's latest acquisition, the 1750-dwt MT Demre 6, was added last year. The four barges are able to carry intermediate fuel oil (IFO) and marine gas oil (MGO) at the same time.

An additional two newbuild vessels - the MT Demre 7 and MT Demre 8 - are currently under construction.