The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore issued methanol bunkering licenses to Global Energy Trading, Golden Island, and PetroChina International (Singapore), effective 1 January 2026. The three were selected from 13 applicants through an evaluation covering supply chain reliability, operational readiness, safety systems, and the sustainability certification of the methanol supplied. The licenses run for five years, to 31 December 2030, giving licensees a defined runway to build capability and anchor investment as the market develops.
A Deliberately Small, Deliberately Vetted List
Thirteen applicants down to three is a genuine filter, not a formality, and the criteria MPA named, supply chain reliability and sustainability certification among them, signal that Singapore is treating methanol bunkering as infrastructure to get right from the start rather than a market to throw open. That is consistent with the same measured, standards-first posture MPA has taken with biofuel and LNG bunkering.
Company, Not Just Policy
This is as much a company story as a policy one. Global Energy Trading was already Singapore's methanol bunkering pioneer, having introduced the port's first IMO type 2 tankers for the fuel in 2023 and supplied more than 10,000 tonnes since; the new license formalises and extends a position it had already built. Golden Island and PetroChina International's inclusion brings two additional supply chains into a market that, until this licensing round, had no formal framework at all.
Why the Five-Year Window Matters
A defined, multi-year license term is the same logic MPA has applied to its overall bunkering strategy: give the market long enough to invest before revisiting the rules. It mirrors, on the marine side, the kind of long-run visibility SAFCo is trying to build for SAF producers through its own procurement model.
Source: Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, media release, 24 November 2025.
