Fuel Oil & Fuel Oil Blending
Consultant/Trainer: Dr Frans van den Berg and Paul van Oers
Reduce Off-Spec Fuel Oil and Maximize Blend Value
Tightening specs on viscosity, sulphur, and stability are making fuel oil blending more complex and less forgiving. Without the right tools, engineers risk off-spec batches, quality giveaways, and lost margin.
This course delivers practical methods to optimise blend recipes, improve compatibility, and troubleshoot issues before they cost you. You’ll gain real-world strategies to reduce reblending, boost consistency, and capture more value per barrel.
Cost
Location
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Dates
TBD
About the Trainer
Paul van Oers: With over three decades in refining and fuel quality management, Paul brings deep technical expertise in fuel oil blending, product compatibility, and quality assurance. As a former Senior Fuels Product Quality Consultant, he led numerous projects to optimize blending operations and ensure product compliance across the supply chain.
His hands-on experience managing the quality of fuels, base oils, and bitumen at a major European refinery, combined with his work on biofuel integration and regulatory compliance, gives him a practical understanding of the real-world challenges engineers face.
Paul’s background in troubleshooting, lab analysis interpretation, and operational coordination makes him an ideal trainer for this course, providing participants with actionable insights grounded in decades of field experience.
Dr. Frans van den Berg: Frans is a seasoned specialist in residue hydroconversion, fuel oil quality, and heavy oil processing, with over three decades of international experience. His career has focused on upgrading bottom-of-the-barrel products and solving complex technical challenges related to crude oil and heavy fuel qualities.
As a former innovation leader in refining technologies, Frans brings deep insight into fuel oil behavior, blend optimization, and product upgrading. He has delivered countless technical trainings on these topics, combining his practical expertise with a clear, structured teaching approach.
Now a Principal Consultant in Residue Upgrading & Crude Oil, Frans offers participants expert-level knowledge grounded in field-tested methods, backed by over 30 publications and a dozen patents.
Participants
This Petrogenium course can be tailored for awareness/inexperienced staff, for intermediate and for experienced personnel. Furthermore the course can be customized for a specific refinery, plant or unit. The option for post-course consultancy/help-desk support is also available.
Participants may include: technical staff, supervisors and managers in refining, marketing, trading, economic planning and laboratories who need better technical understanding of bunker fuel and bunker fuel blending; it is also highly suited for Fuel oil traders as well as bunker operators.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, you’ll be equipped to diagnose and resolve fuel oil blend quality issues using a structured troubleshooting approach. You’ll know how to optimise cutter stock selection to improve compatibility and stability, quantify and reduce blend margin losses through better recipe design, and apply blend models to support operational decisions and ensure consistency. The course provides a practical framework for evaluating and managing fuel oil stability, compatibility, and key product specs using both lab and field data. You’ll leave with proven tools you can apply immediately—on your site, with your team, and in your blend system.
1st day
Introduction to Fuel Oil
- What is fuel oil, brief history; Manufacturing routes
- Blendstock components & their properties; Supply & demand trends towards 2022
Specifications, Components & Test Methods
- ISO 8217 & latest changes; Relevance of individual properties & test methods
- Fit-for-purpose vs on-spec; Developments & future changes
Stability & compatibility of bunker fuel
- Fundamentals of asphaltene stability, Current test methods; Prediction of stability & compatibility
- Best practices; Exercise on fuel oil stability; Case studies on bunker oil stability problems
Bunker fuel blending, components & tools
- Why blending is necessary; Blending systems (in tank, in-line, in-line with ratio control)
- Linear & non-linear blending rules; unusual blending components; blending software & equipment
- Exercise on viscosity blending
2nd day
Blend control & quality assurance
- Quality management; documentation; MARPOL samples
Storage & handling of bunker fuel
- Fuel oil tanks; mixing systems; additives
Laboratory testing & on-line testing
- Role of the laboratory (including repeatability & reproducibility);
- Benefits laboratory testing & on-line testing; types of on-line testing methods
- Lab testing standards (ISO9001/17025, ASTM/IP/ISO test methodology)
Blending economics
- Blending tools & optimisation; single & multi-blend optimisation
- Quality give-away; ensuring the maximum profit from a blend
Blending for 0.5% sulphur compliance (MARPOL)
- Current status; impact on bunker fuel customers; impact on fuel quality & pricing
- Necessary components for 0.5% VLSFO blending; challenges & problems;
- Ensuring stability & compatibility; avoiding off-spec fuel from blending operations
Bunker fuel complaints
- Survey fuel oil complaints; examples of problem fuels; ISO 4259 for dispute handling
- Complaint handling exercise
Liability & claims handling
- Responsibilities for bunker fuel quality; warranties under bunker supply contract
- Contamination of bunkers & blend incompatibility; BIMCO bunker quality & liability clause; ISO 8217
- Potential legal claims (Charterers vs Contractual Bunker Suppliers vs Physical Bunker Suppliers vs Owners); Claims and claims handling; Bunker supplier defence
Bunker fuel HSE aspects
Course evaluation
Programme
1st day
Introduction to Fuel Oil
- What is fuel oil, brief history; Manufacturing routes
- Blendstock components & their properties; Supply & demand trends towards 2022
Specifications, Components & Test Methods
- ISO 8217 & latest changes; Relevance of individual properties & test methods
- Fit-for-purpose vs on-spec; Developments & future changes
Stability & compatibility of bunker fuel
- Fundamentals of asphaltene stability, Current test methods; Prediction of stability & compatibility
- Best practices; Exercise on fuel oil stability; Case studies on bunker oil stability problems
Bunker fuel blending, components & tools
- Why blending is necessary; Blending systems (in tank, in-line, in-line with ratio control)
- Linear & non-linear blending rules; unusual blending components; blending software & equipment
- Exercise on viscosity blending
2nd day
Blend control & quality assurance
- Quality management; documentation; MARPOL samples
Storage & handling of bunker fuel
- Fuel oil tanks; mixing systems; additives
Laboratory testing & on-line testing
- Role of the laboratory (including repeatability & reproducibility);
- Benefits laboratory testing & on-line testing; types of on-line testing methods
- Lab testing standards (ISO9001/17025, ASTM/IP/ISO test methodology)
Blending economics
- Blending tools & optimisation; single & multi-blend optimisation
- Quality give-away; ensuring the maximum profit from a blend
Blending for 0.5% sulphur compliance (MARPOL)
- Current status; impact on bunker fuel customers; impact on fuel quality & pricing
- Necessary components for 0.5% VLSFO blending; challenges & problems;
- Ensuring stability & compatibility; avoiding off-spec fuel from blending operations
Bunker fuel complaints
- Survey fuel oil complaints; examples of problem fuels; ISO 4259 for dispute handling
- Complaint handling exercise
Liability & claims handling
- Responsibilities for bunker fuel quality; warranties under bunker supply contract
- Contamination of bunkers & blend incompatibility; BIMCO bunker quality & liability clause; ISO 8217
- Potential legal claims (Charterers vs Contractual Bunker Suppliers vs Physical Bunker Suppliers vs Owners); Claims and claims handling; Bunker supplier defence
Bunker fuel HSE aspects
Course evaluation