ADNOC's early restart of Ruwais refinery unit may add to Asia gasoline glut
Reuters News- SINGAPORE- The earlier-than-expected return of a gasoline-making unit at Abu Dhabi National Oil Company's (ADNOC) Ruwais oil refinery may add to a glut of the fuel in Asia, potentially weighing on prices, while fuel oil supplies could drop.
ADNOC shut the 127,000 barrels-per-day (
That unit was not expected to be back online until the first quarter of 2019.
However, an ADNOC spokesman said on Monday, "We expect restoration work to be completed by the end of this year and start-up thereafter."
Market consultants Energy Aspects said in an Oct. 8 note that they expect repairs on the RFCC to be finished by the end of November with full operations restored by February. That would raise gasoline output from the UAE by 50,000
"Ruwais's RFCC will join a list of other gasoline-producing units in the region that have returned to service recently following technical problems," said Energy Aspect Analyst Nevyn Nah in the note, referring to recent refinery outages in Saudi Arabia, Oman
"With plenty of Middle Eastern gasoline supplies that were missing over August and September restored, and even more to return, Singapore gasoline time-spreads have collapsed at the front, with even October-November spreads looking shaky," said Nah.
The note also points out that three Long-Range 1 tankers carrying gasoline from Europe are set to arrive in Singapore in November.
The
ADNOC's "gasoline production fell by almost 50,000
(Reporting by Roslan Khasawneh, additional reporting by Rania El Gamal in DUBAI and Jane Chung in SEOUL; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
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