Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority awards eight new LNG bunkering licenses effective September 2026

Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) has awarded eight new LNG bunkering licenses to major energy companies, effective 1 September 2026. The five-year licenses—running through 31 August 2031—go to a roster that includes Aramco Trading Singapore, ExxonMobil Asia Pacific, Shell Eastern Trading, TotalEnergies Gas & Power Asia, and four other firms, concluding a call for applications launched in January 2026.

The move is designed to expand Singapore’s LNG bunkering capacity and reinforce the city-state’s standing as a multi-fuel marine fueling hub.

MPA issues eight LNG bunkering licenses starting September 2026

The call for applications launched on 14 January 2026. Just over six months later, MPA has its eight winners. The full list: Aramco Trading Singapore, Equatorial Marine Fuel Management Services, ExxonMobil Asia Pacific, PetroChina International (Singapore), Shell Eastern Trading, Sinopec Fuel Oil (Singapore), TotalEnergies Gas & Power Asia–Sembcorp Fuels (Singapore) Joint Venture, and Vitol Bunkers (S).

LNG has gained traction as a marine fuel partly because it burns cleaner than conventional heavy fuel oil, producing lower sulfur oxide and particulate emissions.

Each license runs five years—from 1 September 2026 through 31 August 2031. It’s not a guaranteed window, though. Licenses stay valid only if holders keep meeting the relevant licensing conditions, so there’s a real, ongoing compliance obligation built in from day one.

That recipient list is worth a second look. Integrated oil majors sit alongside national oil company trading arms and independent bunker traders. The range reflects how competitive LNG bunkering has become in Singapore—and how seriously these companies are betting on LNG as a durable marine fuel.

Selection criteria included safety standards and methane slip mitigation

Getting one of these licenses wasn’t just about having the deepest pockets. MPA evaluated applicants across supply capabilities, commercial plans, and operational experience. Safety standards were a core part of the assessment, not an afterthought.

One of the more forward-looking criteria involved methane slip. During LNG bunkering, small amounts of methane can escape into the atmosphere—and because methane is a potent greenhouse gas, uncontrolled slip can undermine the entire climate case for LNG as a cleaner marine fuel. MPA required applicants to demonstrate they could monitor and mitigate that risk.

The evaluation also looked at whether applicants could support methane-based alternatives with lower lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions: liquefied bio-methane and e-methane. Neither dominates the market yet, but both are increasingly part of shipping’s long-term decarbonization conversation. By embedding these criteria into the licensing process now, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore is signaling where it expects the market to go.

Licensees required to deliver end-to-end LNG bunkering services

Winning a license comes with real obligations. All eight holders must provide end-to-end LNG bunkering services—they can’t just handle one part of the chain and call it done. The required scope covers fuel supply, storage, cargo transfer, and actual delivery to vessels.

That’s a significant operational commitment. End-to-end capability means licensees need infrastructure, logistics, and coordination across the full bunkering process, which raises the bar for participation—and is probably one reason the selection process was competitive enough to require a formal call for applications.

The expanded capacity is meant to keep pace with growing demand. LNG has gained traction as a marine fuel partly because it burns cleaner than conventional heavy fuel oil, producing lower sulfur oxide and particulate emissions. As more shipowners order LNG-capable vessels, port infrastructure has to scale alongside them. For Singapore—consistently one of the world’s busiest bunkering ports—adding eight new LNG-licensed operators deepens that position and makes the city-state more competitive as shipping’s fuel mix keeps diversifying.

A new Singapore standard for LNG bunkering operations is to be published in August 2026

Alongside the licensing announcement, MPA flagged another development worth watching. Working with Enterprise Singapore through the Singapore Standards Council, MPA will upgrade the existing technical reference for LNG Bunkering—known as TR56—to a full Singapore Standard, or SS, in August 2026.

That’s a meaningful step up. A technical reference is typically a provisional document, developed when there isn’t yet enough industry consensus for a full standard. Upgrading TR56 to an SS signals that LNG bunkering in Singapore has matured enough to warrant more formal, binding guidance.

The new standard will strengthen safety requirements and bunkering procedures, address custody transfer protocols—the rules governing how fuel quantities are measured and verified when LNG transfers between parties—and raise crew competency standards for the people actually doing the work.

Once published, the SS will serve as a common industry reference for LNG bunkering across Singapore. That kind of standardization matters: when everyone’s working from the same playbook, procedural inconsistencies drop and the whole ecosystem becomes more reliable for shipowners and operators alike.

Tightening safety, procedural, and competency requirements

To bring it all together: MPA has awarded eight five-year LNG bunkering licenses to a diverse group of major energy companies, effective 1 September 2026. Recipients were selected based on supply capability, safety standards, operational experience, and their readiness to address methane slip and support lower-emission methane alternatives. All eight must provide full end-to-end bunkering services. Separately, a new Singapore Standard for LNG bunkering operations is due in August 2026, tightening safety, procedural, and competency requirements across the industry. Together, these moves position Singapore to handle growing LNG demand while pushing the sector toward cleaner, more accountable operations.

Kelly Lippke

Kelly is an experienced writer with 15 years of experience exploring the big stories that shape our world, from tech breakthroughs and space exploration to climate, energy, and the fascinating quirks of science. She has a talent for turning complex ideas into sharp, memorable insights that stay with readers long after they’ve finished reading.