It is 29 years since a small independent oil company founded by Bob Chandran started supplying bunkers in Los Angeles. Fast-forward to 2010, and Chemoil is now one of the world’s leading independent physical suppliers of marine fuel. In February of this year, Bob’s family sold its majority shareholding in Chemoil to Glencore, thus ending their long association with the company. As we fondly remember the past and the legacy Bob Chandran and his family left us, we look to build on this with the support of Glencore and Itochu as our two main shareholders.

The bunker marketplace 29 years ago was vastly different than it is today. In 1981, the oil majors dominated the market and the strong independent supplier had yet to emerge; supply was generally abundant and of good quality; Los Angeles was the world’s largest bunker port; there were no standard international bunker fuel specificationsand generally very few quality concerns; environmental concerns were not about shipping emissions but the threat of fuel oil spillages to coastlines; and industry regulation and transparency was to some extent almost non existent.

And, the bunker fuel industry has experienced many challenges – both regional and global - over the past 30 years.

In recent times, there has been the global economic crisis, which hit in 2008 and we are of course still feeling its impact. There was the collapse of oil prices in the mid-1980s which followed soon after a major shipping crisis; there was the first Gulf War; and the Exxon Valdez oil spill which resulted in the creation of the 1990 Oil Pollution Act (OPA 90). The impact of OPA 90 on the US and global maritime industries is still being felt today.

We also had the rapid closing of many residual fuel producing US refineries; the controversial bunker fuel tax in California in 1992 which severely impacted bunker sales in California ports; the fall of the Soviet Union which generated a massive flow of residual fuel from FSU countries; there was the Chavez Government in Venezuela which curtailed residual fuel exports to the Americas; and a second Gulf War. Overall, probably too many challenges to mention in this column. But the fact remains that the bunker industry is resilient by nature and does rebound despite the complexity of some of the issues that we have faced over the years.

Despite the challenges and changes that have taken place, Chemoil has continued to expand operations. First in Houston in 1986, and then in New York in 1997. Chemoil established a presence in Europe by investing in a Rotterdam supplier in 1999.

Chemoil first entered the Asia Pacific market in 1986 in Singapore, and in December 2006, Chemoil became the first physical supplier of marine fuel products to list on the Singapore Stock Exchange.

In 2007, Chemoil entered the Middle East and formed a joint venture with Gulf Petrol Supplies to develop and operate an oil-storage terminal in Fujairah.

The end-result? Chemoil is now firmly established as a fuel supplier in the three largest bunkering ports in the world.

More recently, Chemoil expanded into India in 2009 through a joint venture with Adani Enterprises and we are now supplying fuel to ports in India’s Gujarat State as well as Mumbai and Chennai.

From humble beginnings in 1981, Chemoil today has integrated operations in Los Angeles, New York, Houston, New Orleans, Panama, the ARA region, Gulf of Mexico, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and India - cementing our position as a leading independent physical supplier of marine fuel around the world.

For Chemoil, the late Bob Chandran’s vision and hard work has left an indelible imprint on the company’s staff, customers and partners. We’ll continue to build on that legacy while creating an even brighter future in the 21st century.