Saudi Aramco Shuts Oil Refinery after Attack

Saudi Aramco shut down its 400,000 barrel-per-day Jizan oil refinery in Saudi Arabia on July 27 following an attack by Yemen's Houthi militants on Saturday, a note from consultancy IIR seen by Reuters showed.

The shutdown comes amid tight global fuel supplies, with disruptions in the Middle East and Russia's diesel export ban already constraining the market.

Refining profit margins have also surged, reaching record highs in some regions, underscoring the potential impact of the outage.

The attack damaged the plant's Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle complex and the tank farm area, the note said, adding that Aramco will tentatively complete repairs and restart the plant by August 15.

Aramco did not reply to a Reuters request for comment.

The refinery has exported more than 200,000 bpd on average over the past three months, Kpler data showed. Diesel and gasoil were the main export products, accounting for more than half of June's exports of around 170,000 bpd, while naphtha represented about 30%.

European diesel profit margins rose to a record high of US$70.77 a barrel on Tuesday, supported by attacks on Middle East oil infrastructure, disruptions to regional export routes including the key Strait of Hormuz, and Russia's ban on diesel exports.

Most of the refinery's naphtha exports go to Asia via the Bab el-Mandeb strait, which has been emerging as an alternative supply route to the Strait of Hormuz, which accounts for more than half of naphtha exports to Asian buyers.