The first ship.energy podcast guest of 2023 is Philip Goedkoop, CEO of Oilchart International, an Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) marine fuels company. He joined Oilchart in May 2022 as CEO with a specific focus on the development of biofuel as a bunker fuel.

In this conversation with Mark Williams, Philip looks at the sourcing, blending, storage and delivery of marine biofuels. He also addresses the issues of availability and scalability of these fuels and considers the evolution of other alternative marine fuels which are intended to reduce shipping’s GHG footprint, including methanol, ammonia and, further down the line, synthetic fuels.

Philip began his career in banking in the City of London and he has a BSc from the London School of Economics. In 1990 he moved into the oil sector, beginning with a role in retail sales and then moving into wholesale and trading operations.

From 1997 – 2006, he was CEO at European Petroleum Group, where he managed a wholesale operation out of an Antwerp refinery, acquired a distribution network and a chain of filling stations and oversaw a truck centre project.

In the following years he held various senior positions in IT and oil trading companies, and in 2019 he joined Cargill where he was tasked with developing high blends of biofuels for transport, shipping, heating and industrial applications.