15/05/25
Refinery maintenance to limit Bahrain's bitumen exports
Mumbai, 15 May (Argus) — Bitumen export supply from Bahrain state-controlled
refiner Bapco's 267,000 b/d Sitra refinery is expected to fall in May-June
because of upcoming planned maintenance work and subsequent upgrading work at
the plant, international bitumen traders and importers told Argus . The planned
maintenance is scheduled to start around the end of May and will limit bitumen
output as a vacuum distillation unit (VDU) will be taken off line, market
participants close to the refinery said, but further details on the turnaround
was unavailable. Some international traders and importers told Argus that Bapco
will not offer waterborne cargoes during the turnaround, which is expected to
last through June, and available inventories will be reserved for domestic
consumption. Listed seaborne bitumen prices are at $370/t fob Sitra, unchanged
since mid-April. Earlier this month, the 3,394 deadweight tonne Sidra Al Wakra
vessel loaded a 3,100t cargo from Sitra for discharge in Qatar, shiptracking
data from global trade and analytics firm Kpler show. The same vessel is
scheduled to load a similar-sized cargo in the coming week, the data showed, but
it was unclear if this would be the last bitumen tanker loading schedule ahead
of the turnaround. Import demand for Bahraini cargoes has been lacklustre since
2024 because of competitive offers from neighbouring Iran, and only those with
special requirements were enquiring for Bahraini cargoes. Import demand was
mostly from Qatar, the UAE, and South Africa's Durban. The weekly fob Iran bulk
price was assessed by Argus at $342.50/t on 9 May, at a discount of $27.50/t to
Bahrain's listed seaborne prices. The Argus -assessed fob Iran bulk prices were
at a discount of $109.90/t on average to Bahrain's listed seaborne prices in
2024. The discounts widened to as high as $201/t at the end of May last year.
Meanwhile, the Sitra refinery is undergoing upgrading as part of the $7bn
flagship Bapco Modernisation Project (BMP), which will increase the refinery's
capacity to 380,000 b/d from 267,000 b/d. The project was inaugurated towards
the end of last year and currently the refinery is likely starting up secondary
units, but further details on the progress of this were not available. The
upgraded refinery will primarily increase output of middle distillates,
indicating that output of heavier products such as bitumen will be reduced,
especially with the start-up of the secondary units. By Sathya Narayanan, Ieva
Paldaviciute and Keyvan Hedvat Send comments and request more information at
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