据11月11日Hydrocarbon Processing报道称，贸易和分析人士认为，美国利用全球高硫含量燃料的创纪录低价时期，购买大量的高硫含量燃料，并打算在IMO2020低硫令生效前将其升级为更清洁的产品。
美国贸易消息人士表示，最近从俄罗斯等国进口燃料油变得更为经济，这增加了美国的燃油进口量。
在全球对高硫燃料需求下降之际，美国墨西哥湾沿岸的高硫燃料油（HSFO）价格却呈下降趋势。有关数据显示，11月6日，该地区燃料油价格为每桶41.56美元，创下三年来的季节性低点。欧洲的燃料油价格也跌至历史最低点，这推动了其对美国的出口变得更为经济。
根据石油分析公司Vortex的数据，美国10月份从俄罗斯和前苏联（FSU）国家进口的燃料油量飙升至135万吨的多年高位，预计11月份将保持在这个水平。
Vortex表示：“因此，自今年年初以来，金融服务机构与美国之间的资金流动更为广泛，这有助于抵消美国石油出口暴跌对委内瑞拉燃料油进口的影响。美国已于10月底接受来自约旦的燃油，另一批货物将于11月底左右抵达。”
国际海事组织将于明年1月1日生效的船舶燃料新规定将使船舶燃料含硫量从现在的3.5%降至0.5%。
长期以来，外界一直预计美国大型炼油企业将从新规中受益，因为它们有更大的能力将价格较低的重质原油分解成利润率更高、符合规定的产品。因为，它们具有减压蒸馏能力，可以分解直接来自原油装置的直馏燃油，还拥有焦化能力，精炼裂解燃料油。
金融服务公司Morningstar能源分析师桑迪?菲尔登（Sandy Fielden）表示，随着高硫燃料油价格在IMO 2020生效之前下降，进口量的增加可能与美国炼油企业希望将燃料油直接运至炼焦厂进行升级有关。
邹勤 摘译自 Hydrocarbon Processing
原文如下：
U.S. scoops up overseas fuel oil in pre-IMO push
The United States is taking advantage of record-low prices of one of the world’s dirtiest fuels by buying record volumes, which it intends to upgrade into cleaner products before new shipping rules take effect, trading and analyst sources say.
U.S. trade sources said it recently had become economical to ship fuel oil from countries such as Russia, boosting imports of the product into the United States.
This comes even as prices for high-sulfur fuel oil (HSFO) on the U.S. Gulf Coast trend lower while demand for high-sulfur fuels sags globally.
Fuel oil in the region traded at $41.56 per barrel on Nov. 6, a three-year seasonal low.
Fuel oil prices in Europe have also fallen to record lows, which has helped make exports to the United States economical.
According to data from oil analytics firm Vortexa, U.S. imports of fuel oil from Russia and former Soviet Union (FSU) countries surged to at least a multi-year high of 1.35 million tonnes in October, and they are expected to hold firm at similar levels in November.
“The broader rise in FSU-U.S. flows since the beginning of this year has therefore helped to offset the impact of the collapse in Venezuelan fuel oil imports in the wake of U.S.-led sanctions,” Vortexa said.
Vortexa separately noted that the United States had received fuel oil from Jordan at the end of October, with another tanker set to arrive around the end of November. The route from Jordan to the United States is unusual, Vortexa said.
New regulations on marine fuel by the International Maritime Organization that take effect on Jan. 1 will restrict sulfur content in shipping fuels to a maximum 0.5%, from 3.5% now.
Complex U.S. refiners have long been expected to benefit from the new regulations because they have greater capability to break down cheaper, heavy crudes into higher-margin, compliant products.
They have vacuum distillation capacity to break down straight-run fuel oil, which comes directly from a crude unit, as well as coking capacity, which upgrades cracked fuel oil, a by-product from complex refining methods.
The increased imports may be related to U.S. refiners looking to run fuel oil directly to their cokers as the price of high-sulfur fuel oil declines ahead of IMO 2020, said Sandy Fielden, energy analyst at financial services firm Morningstar.
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