A rush to replenish scarce supply of high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) pushed Northwest European imports of residual fuel oil to their highest in three years in November, analysts told Reuters.The Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA)
A rush to replenish scarce supply of high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) pushed Northwest European imports of residual fuel oil to their highest in three years in November, analysts told Reuters.
The Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) area, Europe's main trading and refining hub, received around 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of all types of fuel oil in November, the highest monthly volume since November 2021.
That compared with an average of 332,000 bpd over January-October this year, according to trade analytics firm Kpler.
Residual fuel oil is one of the key products refined from crude oil and is widely used in the maritime and construction industries. Structural changes in Europe's refining industry have left it more prone to shortages, and therefore leaning more on imports.
Demand for high-sulphur fuel oil for bunkering, or vessel refuelling, has risen in ARA at a time when supply of the fuel has slowed because of maintenance and economic run cuts at local refineries.
"HSFO tightness in Europe is partly attributed to high maintenance levels in the region, specifically concentrated in the Mediterranean," said Royston Huan, analyst at consultancy Energy Aspects.
Huan pointed to incidents at Greece’s Motor Oil Hellas Corinth and Turkey’s Tupras Izmir refineries, which typically
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