A career at the heart of ExxonMobil’s growing marine fuels

Aly Abdelmotaal has been with ExxonMobil for over two decades, supporting marine customers across various segments. Currently serving as EAME Business Development Manager for Marine and Aviation Fuels, Aly is also a Business Venture Manager focused on launching ExxonMobil's LNG marine fuel offering. Below, Aly shares his personal journey at ExxonMobil, experience over the years and his perspective on the future of the marine fuels landscape.

Can you tell us about your journey at ExxonMobil and your current role in supporting our LNG offering?
Aly: Over the past two decades at ExxonMobil, I’ve held a variety of Sales, Marketing and Advisory roles across Cairo and Brussels, gaining broad exposure to the aviation and marine fuels sectors, as well as logistics, pricing and strategy. As part of both the Business Development and Sales teams, I’ve engaged with customers across diverse industry segments, deepening my understanding of their operational needs and priorities. Today, I act as Business Venture Manager, participating in the rollout of our LNG marine fuel offering – an exciting step in expanding our marine fuels portfolio and supporting our customers’ lower GHG emission ambitions.

How has the marine fuels landscape evolved during your time in the industry, and what role has ExxonMobil played in shaping that evolution?
Aly: The industry has undergone significant transformation, especially in recent years with regulatory milestones like IMO 2020 and now IMO NZF. ExxonMobil has consistently played an important role in this evolution, with innovative fuel solutions including our Premium HDME 50™ fuel. We’ve built a strong legacy in the marine sector, not just in fuels but also in lubricants, with our skills, technical expertise and ability to scale up solutions giving us a unique competitive advantage. Now, as the maritime industry transitions to a lower GHG emissions future, we're utilising our decades of experience and innovation to develop lower GHG emission solutions.

You’ve been involved in bio marine fuel blend deliveries and sea trials. What has that experience taught you about customer expectations and ExxonMobil’s approach?
Aly: Our bio marine fuel blend deliveries and sea trials are a great example of how we tailor solutions to our customers’ needs. We didn’t just offer our customers a product – we listened to their needs, involved them in testing and offered solutions to meet their operational requirements. These trials demonstrated how important it is to be flexible and collaborative to ensure the solutions are not only reliable but also aligned with our customers evolving lower GHG emission goals.

ExxonMobil is expanding into the LNG and bio LNG markets. What excites you most about these developments, and how do they support the industry’s lower GHG emission goals?
Aly: We began by offering bio marine fuel blends as a lower lifecycle GHG emission solution compared with conventional marine fuels¹, and our entry into the LNG market continues that journey. LNG has potential to be an efficient pathway for reducing lifecycle GHG² emissions in the marine sector, and I’m proud to be part of our efforts in this space. We've taken a major step in building our supply chain with the announced order for two LNG bunker vessels and we continue working to develop the supply chain further. Bio LNG is likely to represent the natural evolution of our strategy, complementing LNG while directly supporting the IMO's GHG emission reduction ambitions.

What excites me most is that we’re leveraging our skills, technology and strong industry network to advance lower-GHG emission marine fuels and help drive meaningful progress in a thoughtful energy transition.

How is ExxonMobil supporting the maritime industry’s transition to a lower GHG emissions future, and what does long-term collaboration with industry stakeholders look like?
Aly: Our approach is built on long-term collaboration. We work closely with industry stakeholders, regulators and customers to help ensure our solutions are not only technically sound but also commercially viable. A thoughtful energy transition is complex, and no single player can do it alone. ExxonMobil brings deep expertise, global reach and a dedication to innovation that makes us a reliable collaborator in this journey.

What’s next for marine fuels at ExxonMobil? Can you share your thoughts on future solutions like ammonia and methanol?
Aly: We remain focused on delivering efficient, scalable solutions that meet evolving customer and regulatory requirements.

We’re actively assessing next-generation marine fuels such as ammonia and methanol, which show exciting promise, particularly for deep-sea applications.

A multi-fuel future is likely, with solutions tailored to specific vessel needs and built on safe, scalable, reliable and viable production. Given the uncertainties in technology development, transport sector dynamics and evolving policies and guidelines, no single pathway can be reasonably predicted – each option presents unique challenges and opportunities.

ExxonMobil is positioned to adapt and thrive across multiple potential fuel solutions, drawing on our extensive global infrastructure and deep technical capabilities to support a range of solutions in the evolving marine fuels landscape.

What message would you like to share with our marine customers and collaborators?
Aly: ExxonMobil is here for the long haul. We’re dedicated to helping our customers navigate a thoughtful energy transition with confidence. Whether it’s bio marine fuel blends, LNG or future technologies, we have the expertise, capabilities and people to support you. I’m proud to be part of a team that’s driving the expansion in marine fuels – and we’re just getting started.
 

¹ Benefit compared with conventional petroleum-based liquid marine fuels, calculated on an energy basis. Well-to-wake GHG emissions reduction based on the default value data published in Annex V of the Renewable Energy Directive (EU) 2018/2001 and in Annex II of the -Fuel EU Maritime Regulation (EU) 2023/1805. Actual results may vary based on factors such as the specific feedstock and production process. 

² Sphera 2nd Life Cycle GHG Emission Study on the Use of LNG as Marine Fuel Report, 2021.