A Commitment to Taxpayer Stewardship.
Because government activities are funded by taxpayer dollars, due diligence is a necessary component to ensuring optimal and appropriate use of available funding. Beyond the price of product purchased, which in the case of bunker fuels can be millions of U.S. dollars per lift, the government must also account for the soft costs involved in sourcing suppliers, negotiating and managing contracts, determining order specifications, confirming order fulfillment or verifying transaction details and processing invoices and issuing payments. The SEA Card® program streamlines the complex marine fuel procurement process while minimizing associated costs.
Manage long-term marine fuel costs. To help mitigate the unpredictable fluctuations in oil prices and, likewise, bunker fuel, DLA-Energy pre-negotiates long-term contracts with marine fuel suppliers based upon industry pricing. By tracking fuel volumes in specific regions of the world, DLA-Energy officials gain insight into future contract needs.
Mitigate open market expenses while providing critical mission support. When a DLA-Energy contract does not exist at a specific port of entry and a vessel requires fuel, the SEA Card® platform identifies open market marine fuel suppliers in the area. SEA Card® then helps facilitate a competitive fuel inquiry process prior to the spot purchase. This competitive bunker inquiry process allows SEA Card® users to choose the fuel provider of best value based upon the vessel's fuel requirements, or lowest-priced technically acceptable (LPTA) product. Four out of five of SEA Card® open market transactions are made at below the U.S. Government fiscal year standard price.
Manage administrative time and expense. The fuel procurement process has been designed such that there are zero incidents of fraudulent purchases made within the system, and that invoice accuracy is confirmed prior to any accounting processes. This has significantly reduced transaction processing time, which used to average more than 75 days from fulfillment to payment and now averages 28 days – a 47+ day improvement.
