Marine fuel logistics company Aegean Marine Petroleum
Network said Dec. 10 that it has agreed to acquire 28,567 metric tons of marine
fuel and assume a storage contract with Vopak Terminal Los Angeles for a total
purchase price of about $11 million at an auction of the assets of bankrupt
ship fuel supplier OW Bunker.
“This transaction is aligned with Aegean’s strategy to
opportunistically enter new markets,” Aegean Marine Petroleum Network President
E. Nikolas Tavlarios said. “We have focused on building a strong and flexible
financial position over the years, and as a result were able to act quickly on
this unique opportunity to further strengthen and diversify our operating
footprint.
Tavlarios also said that having a presence at the Vopak storage
terminal in Los Angeles is expected to substantially broaden Aegean’s access to
the marine fuel markets of the US West Coast, and in so doing, round out
Aegean’s profile as a global marine fuel provider.
OW Bunker, which has three offices in the US, including one
in downtown Long Beach, California, filed for bankruptcy in November, blaming
the occurrence on falling fuel prices and mismanagement, among other factors.
Greece-based Aegean, which physically supplies refined
marine fuel and lubricants to ships in port and at sea, says it expects to
integrate much of the former OW Bunker operating infrastructure in Los Angeles-Long
Beach into the Aegean organization and begin operations at the Vopak Terminal during
the first quarter of 2015.
Currently, Aegean has a global presence in 27 markets,
including Vancouver, Mexico and the US East Coast.