Cepsa and Quadrise to supply alternative marine fuel in trials with Maersk

Cepsa has signed an agreement with alternative fuel supplier Quadrise and leading shipping firm Maersk to trial Marine MSAR®, a lower cost and potentially environmentally safer alternative to heavy fuel oil.

The trials are due to begin in the first half of 2016, and will see the fuel supplied from the Gibraltar-San Roque refinery to Maersk ships following the installation of an MSAR® manufacturing unit at the site. Installation and operation permits are currently being sought for the new unit.

The trial program is expected to run until the end of 2016, or early 2017 when engine tests on the fuel will be completed. Subsequently, the sale of the fuel from the refinery would be made following regulatory and commercial approvals.

“We are delighted to have this opportunity to meet the fuel requirements of a leading partner in the marine industry with Maersk using a pioneering technology from Quadrise. Cepsa has been a leader in marine fuel technology for many years and this agreement will help to consolidate our position,” said Federico Molina, head of Cepsa´s Refining Unit.

Cepsa is a leading supplier of bunker fuel worldwide with over 75 years of experience and operates in the world´s busiest waters in Gibraltar, and Canary Islands, Africa and the Middle East through installations in Morocco and Fujairah, and the Panama Canal. Last year Cepsa launched DMB 0.1%, a low sulfur marine fuel to meet new Sulfur Emission Control Area (SECA) standards.

Quadrise has developed the fuel to provide an alternative for shipping, refining and power generation markets. The MSAR® oil-in-water emulsion fuel technology makes heavy hydrocarbon residues easier to use by producing a lower viscosity oil mixed with water. Alternative fuel emulsions, which are water in oil, are produced from heavy fuel oil. By emulsifying refinery residues, as opposed to heavy fuel oil, the refiner is able to create more value, and also a lower priced fuel, by selling the distillates that would traditionally be blended into its heavy fuel oil.