Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser says that the Jazan refinery is now fully operational, in a development which will boost Saudi Arabia’s ability to supply ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) to Europe. “It’s reached its target of 400,000 barrels per day. There is still some commissioning works, but nothing major,” he told media on 12 March.
The refinery is Saudi Arabia’s newest and came online two years ago in early 2021 (MEES, 22 January 2021). But the expected ramp-up to full capacity has been slow to materialize, with operations long limited to just one 200,000 b/d CDU whilst key secondary units remained offline. This was despite diesel prices skyrocketing last year and the “full-conversion” refinery being capable of producing 250,000 b/d of ULSD. Last year also saw record Saudi crude oil production as Opec+ cuts were eased through the year, enabling record refinery run-rates of 2.70mn b/d: Jazan nevertheless remained capped at 50% operations. (CONTINUED - 867 WORDS)
