U.S. refiners are scooping up cheap high-sulfur fuel oil for processing from Russia and the Baltic states as they take advantage of new shipping rules that have cut demand for the dirtier marine fuel, according to oil traders and shipping data.”Fuel oil (is) going directly from Russia to the U.S., instead of Europe,” said Lars van Wageningen, operations manager at Dutch consultancy Insights Global, which tracks fuel oil stocks in the Antwerp-Rotterdam- Amsterdam region. New maritime rules known as IMO 2020 mandate that the shipping industry has to burn cleaner, low sulfur fuels in surplus marine fuel is becoming a salve for refiners, according to traders, who have seen mar gins drop sharply due to weak global demand for refined products like diesel and gasoline.
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