Officials from Chemoil and Colonial declined to comment on this deal. Colonial Oil is a private company, while Chemoil is publicly listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange.

Colonial Oil, which is predominantly a gasoline and diesel player and has a major presence in the Southeast market, has a comparatively smaller bunker business. Colonial’s bunker business centers around supplies at Southeast ports in Savannah, Charleston and Jacksonville.

Colonial Oil has seen stronger profitability in its gasoline and diesel supply business than its bunker segment. This is partly due to the comparatively larger scale of its clean products business and market dominance in the Southeast. As for bunkers, the marine fuel industry on the whole has seen tough challenges in the past year due to a weak demand and a lack of arbitrage opportunities.

If the deal goes through as planned, Chemoil will make its foray into the Southeast bunker market for the first time. In the U.S., Chemoil supplies bunkers in New York, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Chemoil also has bunker market presence in the Caribbean, Panama, Europe, Middle
East, India and Asia.

In May, Chemoil said that its Americas business segment was the weakest link amid a continued weak global demand in the shipping industry.

“Our first quarter 2013 results were relatively good in spite of continued weak demand in the shipping sector, most notably in the Americas. Volumes were steady in Asia and Europe remained steady and benefits from restructuring are taking effect,” said Chemoil’s CEO, Tom Reilly.

“Our renewables business also made positive contributions; a result that underscores the importance of the diversification strategy that we have employed over the last few years,” he said.

In January, OPIS reported that nine employees left Chemoil abruptly, but its U.S. bunkering trading and supply services continued to operate normally.

The layoffs at Chemoil Singapore are thought to be attributed to a tough trading environment. Prior to the mass turnover, the Chemoil Singapore team was put under a restructuring in October. The second phase of that restructuring was implemented in January.

In the U.S., Chemoil has three bunker traders in its San Francisco office and one bunker trading manager in its White Plains office in New York. Chemoil offers bunker supplies on the West Coast, Gulf Coast and East Coast in the U.S.

In the U.S., Chemoil has storage capacities in the New York Harbor, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Gulf Coast.