Gulf refining capacity rose 2% to 8.45mn b/d during 2018 with 150,000 b/d of gains coming from the start-up of the second 120,000 b/d unit at Iran’s Persian Gulf Star condensate splitter and repairs to Iraq’s war-ravaged fleet (MEES, 19 October).
This will likely see the region’s refiners process record volumes of crude oil and condensate. Throughputs for the first 10 months of 2018 were 7.26mn b/d, a modest increase on 2017’s record high of 7.24mn b/d (see charts). (CONTINUED - 899 WORDS)
