The UAE’s ENOC Group has partnered with Indian Oil Company (IOC), a commercial oil and gas company in India, to expand its global footprint while building on IOC’s R&D infrastructure
The ENOC-IOC partnership includes R&D efforts to jointly develop cylinder oil compliant with the sulphur cap of 0.5 per cent of the current 3.5 per cent.
The agreement will enable ENOC to expand its presence to more than 180 ports in 28 countries, providing its customers with high-end marine lubricants and technical services.
Saif Humaid Al Falasi, Group CEO of ENOC, stated, “The marine oil industry is becoming more eco-conscious as international regulators set standards to control air pollution from ships. With tighter restrictions in designated emission control, ship owners, marine oil manufacturers and suppliers need to work together to ensure greater quality control.”
“ENOC’s alliance with one of the world’s biggest oil and gas companies, IOC, will help mitigate these environmental risks through world-class research and development and manufacturing that meet the IMO standards,” he added.
With the approaching global sulphur deadline for the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in January 2020, ship-owners will compete within the next year.
The aim is to reduce the sulphur content currently present in oil used to fuel ships to reduce the impact of pollution on populations living near ports and coasts in particular.
The partnership will also enable ENOC to obtain approvals from existing manufacturers in the Indian subcontinent more quickly through the IOC’s R&D Centre.
The ENOC Group-IOC alliance is said to be one of the largest collaborations in the marine lubricant industry with both companies in the sector, offering their customers a higher value proposition.
