Malta-based Alkagesta takes ownership of first vessels with completion of energy petrol deal

Global Commodity and energy trading house Alkagesta, headquartered in Malta since its founding in 2018, now owns its first fleet of vessels after completing the acquisition of Energy Petrol, an Istanbul-based marine fuel supplier, in November 2026.

Until now the company had chartered tonnage from third-party owners. The deal, first reported by Bloomberg in October, brings eight marine fuel supply vessels and a long-term lease of 28,000 cubic metres of tank capacity at Gebze into the group, taking total oil products storage to around 728,000 cubic metres across Europe and Asia. Energy Petrol, founded in 1997 and the third-largest physical marine fuel supplier in the port of Istanbul, continues to trade under its own brand.

Two senior appointments accompany the completion. Taha Karakan, formerly of Bunker Holding and with Alkagesta since October 2024, becomes Managing Director - Marine Fuels Distribution, Türkiye, overseeing Energy Petrol within the wider marine fuels business. Aydın Yıldız joins as Marine Sales Director of Energy Petrol from Petrol Ofisi, where he led the market-leading PO/Marine business as Head of Marine Sales for the past decade.

Energy Petrol founder Mustafa Muhtaroğlu is the founding and current chairman of the Turkish Bunker Association and has sat on the board of the International Bunker Industry Association for 20 years.

Alkagesta has operated from Malta since 2018, initially delivering cargoes into the local market before building the island into a Mediterranean trading base with close to 300,000 cubic metres of storage across Evos Malta and Enemalta. The Turkish acquisition adds owned vessels and a second physical supply hub to that platform, giving the group direct delivery capability on both sides of the Eastern Mediterranean.