Singapore agencies: No serious impact on oil trading and bunkering sectors
SINGAPORE: Three Singapore agencies are closely monitoring developments related to oil trading giant, Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd and the broader oil trading and bunkering sectors.
One of them, Enterprise Singapore (ESG) said the republic’s oil trading sector remains resilient notwithstanding the challenges posed by the drop in global demand for energy.
“The sector is sufficiently diversified with more than 130 significant global, regional and local companies that trade energy products,” it said in a joint statement with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
ESG, a government agency championing enterprise development, said Singapore is also an important regional storage, blending and distribution hub for refined oil products.
While Hin Leong is related to UT Singapore Services Pte Ltd which owns Universal Terminals by common shareholdings, Universal Terminals is operated independently of Hin Leong, it said.
Besides Universal Terminals, there are other independent oil terminal operators in Singapore including Vopak, Oiltanking and Tankstore, said the agency.
It was reported that Hin Leong, founded in 1963, filed an application for a debt moratorium from Singapore’s High Court on April 17.
MPA meanwhile has assessed that there will be no serious impact on Singapore’s bunkering industry.
“There may be some short-term minor disruptions due to the lapse of contractual obligations by Ocean Bunkering Services and
Hin Leong Marine International,” it said.
It noted that the Singapore bunkering sector is well diversified with 43 other licensed bunker suppliers, including Minerva Bunker and TFG Marine which recently received their licences.
The statement said ESG and MPA will continue to work with stakeholders to ensure that Singapore’s supply chain for oil products and bunkering operations continue to function without disruption.
Meanwhile, MAS said it is in close contact with the banks on developments related to Hin Leong.
The central bank said it agreed with the assessment by ESG and MPA and has reminded the banks not to de-risk indiscriminately from the bunkering and oil trading sectors.
Banks should, however, continue to apply judicious credit assessment on individual borrowers to manage their risks, it said. It noted that the banks are well capitalised and diversified in their exposures to these sectors. — Bernama