Tomakomai Port Authority and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., Ltd. (JAPEX) announced that a trial of LNG bunkering by truck-to-ship method* was conducted at the North Pier of West Port District at Tomakomai Port, Tomakomai City to Atsuma Town, Yufutsu District, Hokkaido, on September 8, 2022.
The trial was conducted with an LNG-fueled tugboat 'Ishin' under cooperation of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. as the tugboat owner, Nihon Tug-Boat Co., Ltd. as the tugboat operator, and MOL Marine & Engineering Co., Ltd. as serving marine consulting services.
From 2019 to 2020, Tomakomai Port Authority and JAPEX held the 'Tomakomai Port LNG Bunkering Study Group.' At the study group, identification of the issues for each implementation method of LNG bunkering at Tomakomai Port, examination of their solutions, and confirmation of applicable laws and regulations were conducted.
The trial verified specific points of the issues identified for a truck-to-ship method of LNG bunkering, by LNG transported by tank trucks, entrusted to Japan Oil Transportation Co., Ltd. Also, we have accumulated practical expertise for conducting LNG bunkering at Tomakomai Port, including procedural scheme and required infrastructure.
We will make effort to build an LNG bunkering base at Tomakomai Port based on expertise including the trial, for the contribution to reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) and sulfur dioxide (SOx) emitted from vessels, as well as early realization of LNG bunkering at Tomakomai Port.
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Grant bolsters bi-national effort to expand air monitoring along the border
Sep 7, 2022
Two countries, three states, multiple cities and almost 3 million people. These are among the stakeholders of an unprecedented public-private financial partnership Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC) is supporting to enhance air quality in the region around El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, its sister city directly across the border in Mexico. A $100,000 MPC grant will expand the number of air monitoring stations in Juarez to strengthen data collection, promote respiratory health awareness and support local air quality improvement projects.
Filling in the gap
MPC's El Paso refinery and Juarez are both located in the Paso del Norte Air Basin where rapid urban and industrial growth are making it more difficult for the three existing air monitoring stations in Juarez to provide adequate data. Such a data gap could lessen the accuracy of the basin's data models and weaken efforts to keep the public informed about periods when ozone levels, for example, might reach a point that could affect people with respiratory ailments. MPC's grant will add a fourth monitoring station that includes an ozone analyzer, equipment for measuring particulate matter and meteorological sensors.
'An international border may separate us from Juarez, but we share the same environment and understand the pace of growth, so we recognize how impactful this could be,' said MPC El Paso Refinery General Manager C.P. Patsatzis. 'This project will assist in the delivery of certain public health information that, otherwise, might not be available.'
Building on a first-of-its-kind foundation
MPC's monetary support expands the work of the Joint Advisory Committee for the Improvement of Air Quality in the Paso del Norte Air Basin (JAC), which was established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its agency counterpart in Mexico. The JAC promotes collaboration on air quality initiatives among the local, state and federal agencies with jurisdictions that include El Paso County, Texas; Dona Ana County, New Mexico; and the bordering Mexican state of Chihuahua.
MPC's grant is being coordinated through the bi-national air quality fund, the first financial vehicle of its kind. The JAC created this fund to combine financial support for the region's air quality projects from private-sector and public-sector sources in the U.S. and Mexico, which include the EPA and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
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T: +1 419-422-2121
JAPAN PETROLEUM EXPLORATION CO., LTD. 
