---

Bunker sales in Singapore dropped by 156,600 tonnes in December compared to the previous month, according to preliminary estimates released by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).

Total sales of marine fuel at the world's leading bunker port decreased to 2,734,300 tonnes from 2,879,900 tonnes in November, a fall of approximately 5.1 percent. However, the figure was still slightly higher than in December 2007, when the monthly total reached 2,732,700 tonnes.

Accumulated bunker sales in Singapore for 2008 reached 34,936,400 tonnes, still surpassing last year's record of 31.546,00 tonnes by 3,390,400 tonnes, or 10.7 percent, despite last month's drop in bunker volumes sold.

In a comparison of fuel grade sales with previous years, sales of 380-centistoke (cst) - Singapore's largest-selling bunker grade - rose from 22,722,000 tonnes in 2007 to 25,941,800 tonnes in 2008, a rise of 3,219,800 tonnes, or 14.2 percent.

Meanwhile, sales of 500-cst - the second-best selling product in Singapore - increased by 10.1 percent from 3,983,300 tonnes in 2007 to 4,383,700 tonnes last year.

Marine gas oil(MGO) also showed a rise in annual sales from 1,502,000 tonnes in 2007 to 1,537,500 tonnes in 2008, a 2.4 percent increase.

Sales of 180-cst continued to fall in 2008, reaching an accumulated total of 2,696,000 tonnes by the end of the year, 268,900 tonnes lower than in 2007.

Below is a summary of total annual sales for each main grade of marine fuel between 2005 and 2008.

	Total	500cst	380cst	180cst	MGO
2005	25,479.1	2,613.5	17,935.5	2,997.6	1,441.9
2006	28,379.1	3,041.9	20,359.8	3,002.5	1,514.9
2007	31,546.0	3,983.3	22,722.0	2,964.9	1,502.0
2008	34,936.5	4,383.7	25,941.8	2,696.0	1,537.5

Below is a table of 2008 bunker sales in Singapore for each fuel grade with accumulated totals in the bottom row.

2008	Total	500cst	380cst	180cst	MGO
Jan	2,802.2	351.6	2,048.8	239.6	127.0
Feb	2,734.0	296.5	2,014.4	263.8	127.2
March	3,045.3	361.4	2,275.7	235.4	137.0
April	3,047.0	355.5	2,286.6	246.6	125.3
May	2,919.0	391.3	2,157.2	207.3	116.2
June	2,810.4	354.8	2,075.2	235.1	108.4
July	3,030.9	364.5	2,277.4	210.7	129.7
August	3,151.7	376.4	2,372.5	238.7	134.2
September	2,856.2	409.2	2,085.6	204.7	134.3
October	2,925.5	392.5	2,174.1	203.0	135.7
November	2,879.9	417.1	2,116.4	202.7	122.6
December	2,734.3	312.8	2,058.0	208.4	140.1
Total	34.936.4	4,383.6	25,941.9	2,696.0	1,537.7