Three Saudi refineries are undergoing planned maintenance during the first half of 2020. This heavy turnaround schedule boosts the amount of crude available for export just when the kingdom wants to shock and awe markets. That said, the work programs were mainly flagged up well in advance and are unlikely to be linked to Riyadh’s plan to massively ramp-up exports hatched in the immediate aftermath of the 6 March Opec+ meeting breakdown (MEES, 3 April).
The 400,000 b/d Petro Rabigh refinery and integrated 5mn t/y petrochemicals complex is offline for the whole of March and April (MEES, 6 March). Aramco’s 550,000 b/d Ras Tanura plant will be shut down for 5-6 weeks beginning 1 June as part of a $2.4bn clean fuels upgrade. which will enable production of Euro-5 specifications fuels from 2021 (MEES, 13 January 2017). (CONTINUED - 238 WORDS)
