BP’s refinery in Rotterdam had both its crude units offline on Tuesday morning, Reuters reports, citing energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie.
A crude unit with a capacity of 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) went offline early on Tuesday. This follows the shutdown of the other 200,000 bpd crude unit in early May for planned maintenance.
As a result of the shutdowns, the 400,000-bpd oil refinery in Rotterdam now has both crude units offline.
The Rotterdam refinery is one of Europe’s largest and has the capacity to process 400,000 bpd of crude, or 19 million tons per year.
At the facility, BP produces gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, LPG, fuel oil, and raw materials for the petrochemicals industry. The refinery supplies all BP gas stations in the Netherlands and exports fuels to the U.S., Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and the UK.
The reduced refining capacity in Europe could boost refining margins for the other refineries at a time when the driving season and peak demand period for the year start.
Refining capacity closures and resilient fuel demand have tightened global fuel markets in recent weeks, benefiting refiners globally.
Refining margins have been rising this year and hit in May the highest global composite margin in more than a year. As the driving season begins and summer approaches, peak demand in the northern hemisphere is here.
Refiners, including U.S. refining giants, are benefiting from the higher margins, although these margins are far below the record highs seen in 2022 amid the oil market turmoil.
Still, global composite refining margins hit $8.37 per barrel in May—the highest level since March 2024, according to data from Wood Mackenzie cited by Reuters.
During the second quarter, the higher margins and demand are a boon to refiners, which saw increased turnaround activity and weak refining margins in the first quarter of the year.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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