Neil Atkinson, director of the oil industry and market department of the International Energy Agency, announces the 2019 report on the global oil market in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, on April 24. [Photo/WeChat account: china-zjftz] 

The International Energy Agency (IEA) held a meeting in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, on April 24 to release its 2019 report on the global oil market.

The meeting is intended to boost development on an oil and gas industrial chain in the China (Zhejiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) and increase Zhejiang's influence in the international oil trade market.

Tugboats dock the oil tanker Eagle Varna carrying imported crude oil at the Port of Zhoushan in Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province on July 4, 2018. [Photo/IC]

According to the report, the current global oil market is undergoing tremendous changes. Oil demand is shifting from developed economies to Asia, and from the transportation sector to the petrochemical sector. 

Earlier in 2016, the International Maritime Organization announced a policy to limit the amount of sulfur in bunker fuel starting from 2020, which will lead to a reshuffling in the global bunker fuel market and provide a good opportunity for Zhejiang FTZ. 

The Green Petrochemical Base in the zone has finished its refining-chemical integration project, which will be able to handle 20 million metric tons of crude oil per year and can mass produce low-sulfur bunker fuel.

"Once the new policy comes into effect, market players will make adjustments accordingly. We believe that the new bunker fuel will mainly come from the United States, the Middle East and China," said Neil Atkinson, director of the oil industry and market department in IEA.

Feng Bijun, deputy director of the overall coordination administration of Zhejiang FTZ, pointed out that while Singapore, the globally leading maritime service base, developed by supplying high-sulfur bonded fuel, Zhejiang FTZ may take advantage of its low-sulfur fuel to share the lucrative oil market with the country. 

Senior analyst Serene Gardiner from Trafigura Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based global bulk commodity trade giant, thinks low-sulfur bunker fuel from China will diversify global oil supply channels, and stimulate industry competition and innovation.