Alkagesta struck a deal to purchase Energy Petrol, a Turkish supplier of ship fuel, with approval already in hand from Turkey's competition regulator. The package includes eight bunkering vessels, giving Alkagesta its first owned fleet.
Up to now, the trader only leased ships from others and currently has three oil-product tankers on charter. Energy Petrol will continue operating on its own after the transaction. The companies did not share financial terms.
Owning vessels lets Alkagesta move beyond trading marine fuel into distributing it to ship operators, a step many commodity houses are taking to tighten margins and outpace rivals. The deal also lifts its storage footprint to roughly 728,000 cubic meters worldwide.
Asad Huseynov, managing director for investments and asset management, said the acquisition will "lay the ground" for potential purchases of larger ships. He added the company is open to other infrastructure-style investments and would look at terminals.
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In the first half, Alkagesta transacted 4.9 million tons across oil, fertilizers, steel and biofuels, up 53% from a year earlier after entering jet fuel and crude markets. CEO Orkhan Rustamov said the firm earned a "reasonable profit," noting, "This year, due to the volatility, due to the shocks in the market in different geographical zones, we were able to capture the margins in a nice way."
Market swings have been pronounced. Fighting in the Middle East upended flows through the Strait of Hormuz in early March and pushed oil and gas sharply higher, creating outsized openings for traders. The Russia-Ukraine war also raised freight and insurance costs as drone attacks hit Black Sea ports. Even so, Rustamov said Alkagesta plans to purchase three or four additional spot crude shipments from the Caspian Pipeline Consortium this year.
Alkagesta keeps trading oil products at Black Sea ports in Georgia, Romania and Turkey and concentrates on the eastern Mediterranean. In marine fuel, it aims to expand bunkering in Singapore. The company supplies about 40% of Turkey's 2.5 million ton per year bunkering market and about 75% of Malta's, according to Huseynov. In Turkey, major competitors include Azerbaijan's Socar and Petrol Ofisi AS, which is owned by Vitol Group.
The bottom line: greater control over supply and ships can smooth margins in choppy markets, which matters for anyone with exposure to shipping fuel, oil logistics or Mediterranean energy flows.
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