---

CEPSA Marine Fuels, S.A. (CMF) has announced that it will be ready to offer fuels with 3.50 percent sulphur content to customers at all its supply ports from this week.

In a statement, the company said: "In order to comply with this requirement and to match its customers’ needs, CMF is ready to offer 3,50% sulphur content fuels at all its ports from 15th November.

"Thanks to Cepsa’s refineries at Tenerife, Algeciras and Huelva, CMF will guarantee the best quality of these fuels and all products, always adapting to market demand and international standard regulations," CMF added.

The new MARPOL ANNEX VI regulation will see the global sulphur content of fuel oil reduced from 4.5% to 3.5% on January 1st 2012. The new sulphur limit applies to all waters other than Emission Control Areas (ECAs), where fuel oil with a sulphur content of 1% must be used.

Appendix V of MARPOL Annex VI also requires that all bunker delivery receipts (BDRs) must specify the density of the bunker fuel and its sulphur content. It is a legally binding document and the regulation states that it is the responsibility of the company receiving the fuel oil to provide this.

CMF, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CEPSA, began its bunkering activities in 1930, suppyling marine fuel to vessels from the Tenerife refinery.

Today, CMF’s supplies fuel oil to vessels in the majority of Spain’s ports, including the Canary Islands, Strait of Gibraltar, Barcelona and Huelva, as well in Panama, Portugal, and Malta.