---

Chemoil, one of the world’s leading physical suppliers of marine fuel products, has announced today that its profit after tax for the year ending 31st December rose by US$16.8 million, or 55 percent, from US$30.3 million in 2007 to US$ 47.1 million.

A 13 percent increase in sales volume, from 14.6 million metrice tonnes in 2007 to 16.5 million tonnes in 2008, helped push Chemoil's annual revenue up by 62 percent to US$8.7 billion.

Volumes sold were boosted by the addition of new supply operations in the Middle East and Singapore, together with an increase in cargo sales.

The company's gross contribution per metric ton rose in 2008 to US$8.05 per metric ton. This is largely attributed to Chemoil's hedging activities, which helped to protect the value of stock during an extremely volatile year for oil prices.

During the fourth quarter of 2008, sales volumes rose to 3.8 million tonnes from 3.1 million tonnes during the same period in 2007, an increase of 23 percent.

Average sales values during this period declined by 29 percent to US$327 per tonne versus US$462 in the fourth quarter of 2007, following the sharp decrease in the price of oil in the last quarter of 2008.

However, a 29 percent drop in purchase costs and the effective use of hedging instruments compensated for price differentials to shield margins.

Commenting on the results, Clyde Michael Bandy, Chemoil's Chairman said “During highly turbulent and volatile market conditions, the strength of Chemoil’s results for 2008 highlights the performance of our business model in both rising and falling oil markets.

Chemoil has worked to combine stringent financial management, robust operational delivery and dynamic marketing, along with a carefully-planned global expansion. This is underpinned by the flexibility of Chemoil’s sales mix that enables us to adjust our sales towards segments that can generate better margins. Our physical operations in Singapore made a key contribution to increased sales, and our strategy of investing in infrastructure that strengthens our market position and drives growth has been re-affirmed. The commencement of supply services in the Middle East also contributed to an improvement in 2008 sales volumes.”