Saudis Delay Restart of 400,000 Bpd Refinery
Saudi Aramco pushed back restarting its Jazan oil refinery to late August, following a weekend attack on the facility, according to market intelligence firm IIR Energy.
The 400,000-barrel-a-day complex is now tentatively expected to restart by Aug. 30, IIR, which specializes in monitoring refinery activity, said on Monday. That would be roughly two weeks later than was initially scheduled.
Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen claimed responsibility for an attack on the plant, located in the southwest of Saudi Arabia, over the weekend. The Saudi energy ministry said it put out a fire at the site, without giving a cause, while a person familiar with the matter said the blaze impacted one crude storage tank.
Disruptions to oil refineries in the Middle East and Russia are straining the global diesel market, as fallout from both the Iran war and Moscow’s ongoing war with Ukraine combine to squeeze supplies. European and US diesel futures both jumped on Monday.
Saudi Aramco didn't immediately reply to a request for comment.
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