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Turkey's Opet looks set to expand its fuel oil trading operations in Singapore following the recent launch of its marine fuel business.

Opet, co-owned by Koc Holding, launched its Singapore office about two years ago and began supplying bunker fuel at the world's largest bunker port last October. Monthly supply volumes are currently estimated at around 100,000 tonnes.

The company purchased its first cargo of high-viscosity fuel oil, a 100,000-tonne parcel from Tüpras's 200,000 barrel-per-day Aliaga refinery in Turkey, two months ago.

Another 80,000-100,000-tonne cargo is also due to arrive from Turkey in June. The aframax Alaskan Sea is scheduled to load from Aliaga on Monday, May 31st.

Speaking at a recent energy conference in Singapore, Singapore managing director Ali Sarper said Opet aims to bring between six and eight cargoes into Singapore this year, including arbitrage cargoes from Europe.

Opet is also understood to be in initial talks regarding the potential investment in oil terminal projects in the region, mostly in Malaysia and Indonesia.

However, the company is not expected to lease any storage for fuel oil in the short-term due to weak blending margins, in a market that is currently facing storage over-capacity.