Lukoil is probably to be "among the key beneficiaries of [the new regulation] as refining margins are expected to grow significantly," Gimaletdinov said.

"We aim to complete construction of VRDS in February next year and start commercial production [from] the VRDS unit as early as possible," a company official said.

"A market improvement is expected in the second half of the year as refinery capacity returns and oil volumes return to the markets," company CEO said.

The LNG fuel was loaded onto a tank truck then supplied to the LNG-fueled tugboat Sakigake using the truck-to-ship method.

These changes come after BW Group in March said it had acquired a majority stake in Epic Gas.

J-ENG plans to carry out the engine test using the biofuel from GoodFuels.

"All of Galp's 0.5% fuel [will] come directly from our own refineries," a company representative said.

"The bookings so far in the second quarter indicate a continued positive product tanker market," Meldgaard said.