Corrects coker issue details in paragraphs 1-2
Japanese refiner Cosmo Oil has sold rare high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) cargoes, after coker unit issues at its 100,000 b/d Sakai refinery resulted in excess residuals from its Yokkaichi plant.
A refinery's coker units typically take residual material like HSFO as feedstock, and upgrade it into higher-value products. Cosmo's 86,000 b/d Yokkaichi refinery usually supplies HSFO to its Sakai refinery's coker unit, with the issues at Sakai resulting in surplus HSFO from Yokkaichi available for export, said a market participant and a source close to Cosmo. The issues started in early May and have been resolved as of early July, said the same source familiar with refinery operations.
Cosmo sold 20,000t (129,000 bl) of 380cst HSFO this week, for loading from Yokkaichi over 10-12 July. The cargo was likely bought by Shell at around a $20/t discount against the average of Singapore spot 380cst HSFO assessments, traders said, although this could not be confirmed with Cosmo. This is likely the third HSFO cargo sold by Cosmo since the coker unit issues began, said a trader.
The vessel Torm Belis loaded 25,000t of fuel oil from Yokkaichi over 8-10 June, shipping fixtures show, which is likely one of the other two cargoes, although the details of the last cargo could not be confirmed. The Medium Range (MR) vessel will likely reach Singapore by end of June, showed Vortexa data.
It is rare for Cosmo to export 380cst HSFO, as it usually offered slurry, residual desulphuriser (RDS) bottoms and treated vacuum gasoil in the past because of fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) maintenance, which resulted in these residuals — typically used as FCC feedstock — available for export.
Cosmo Oil's last confirmed maintenance at its Yokkaichi plant was in September last year. The refiner was also recently forced to halt operations at the No.2 crude distillation unit at its 177,000 b/d Chiba plant on 16 May because of some technical difficulties, but resumed operations by end-May.
