German oil product transport still disrupted

Market: Oil products
28/04/25

Traders at the PCK consortium's 230,000 b/d Schwedt refinery in east Germany are facing mounting supply pressure because oil product transport by train is currently impeded by construction work. Germany's west and southwest continue to face resupply issues because of low water levels on the river Rhine.

A rail closure for construction works between Berlin and Eberswalde is causing significant delays in the transport of product from the Schwedt refinery.

Construction began on 11 April and is scheduled to finish on 31 May.

During this time, trains transporting product from Schwedt to Berlin and to tank farms in the southeast are being diverted via Stralsund. The diversion adds about 400km, or roughly 11 hours, to the journey and increases costs, traders said. Suppliers in southeast Germany are raising their prices for distillates because of tighter availability as a result, while sellers at Schwedt are lowering their gasoline prices in particular to incentivise buyers. Traders are facing increased supply pressure because less product is being transported south.

High overall demand for distillates since the beginning of the month has prevented similar pressure from building for heating oil and diesel so far.

In western Germany, availability of gasoline in tank farms along the Rhine remains tight. Although water levels on the river Rhine increased throughout the past week, allowing barge operators to load about half their maximum capacity, they are expected to recede again until mid-May, federal waterways and shipping administration data show. The water level near the bottleneck at Kaub is expected to fall to about 80cm by 6 May, from 136cm today.

Barge operators have kept freight rates up in anticipation of the fall in water levels and because of continued high demand.

But a ramp-up in production at the Bayernoil joint venture's 215,000 b/d Vohburg-Neustadt refinery could lead to an increase in supply in Germany's south. The operator took the refinery's Vohburg site offline for a planned turnaround on 3 March, with works lasting until 3 April. Availability had remained tight throughout April, though.

By Natalie Müller

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