Vitol to offer 'clean' bunker fuel by adding carbon offset price

London (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) - Vitol Bunkers, the newly launched shipping fuel arm of Vitol, will sell 'clean' bunker fuel to clients by adding carbon offsets to the price, the company announced Thursday.

The Voluntary Emission Reduction credits will be sourced from both Vitol's own portfolio and also the wider market.

Carbon offsets range in price from $1/mt to $4/mt or higher for those that deliver additional sustainable benefits, according to market sources.

In September, the European Parliament voted for the inclusion of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships that weigh over 5,000 gross tonnes in the European Union's Emissions Trading System by 1 January 2022.

However, it is unclear how so-called zero-carbon fuel will be treated in the world's biggest carbon market.

The EU Commission will outline a raft of new climate policies in mid-July, including a revision of the carbon market.

Vitol traded 106 million mt of carbon dioxide in 2020, up from 66 million metric mt in 2019, according to reports in May.

The Vitol Group charters around 6,650 ship voyages a year and has over 250 vessels at sea transporting its cargoes at any one time, the company stated.  

Vitol manages its own fleet of vessels through its Latvian-based technical management company, LSC, as well as through a Singapore-flagged fleet offering barging services.