Oman's 230,000 b/d Duqm refinery has offered fuel oil and a naphtha cargo as it starts up, although residual fuel offers should taper off as downstream units come on line, said market participants.
The Duqm refinery has offered 25,000t of full-range naphtha with 75pc paraffinic content, said a source close to the refiner. It also offered high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) likely for loading in June, said traders, although this could not be confirmed with the refiner. The refiner will likely also offer other products across the barrel for export by July, including gasoil and jet fuel, said a Mideast Gulf-based market participant.
Trial operations at the refinery's crude distillation unit (CDU) started in April and its secondary units started commissioning last month in preparation for the start of commercial operations by the end of the year. But market participants mentioned that commerical operations might start in the third quarter. The secondary units will include a hydrocracker, hydrotreater and delayed coking units, according to operator OQ8, a 50:50 joint venture between Omani and Kuwaiti state-owned firms OQ and KPI.
Duqm is expected to export HSFO during the refinery commissioning phase, especially as its crude feedstock is mainly sour and heavy, said traders and a source close to OQ. But once all units are fully up and running, the refinery's fuel oil output will be run through secondary units to produce higher-value products.
Once commercial operations start, the refinery will produce 130,000 b/d of diesel and 63,500 b/d of naphtha, sources told Argus. It will also produce jet fuel, LPG and petroleum coke. The next phase will be the Duqm Petrochemical Project (DPP), which will integrate the refinery and the petrochemical complex and house a 1.6mn t/yr ethylene mixed-feed steam cracker.
