Fire at 580,000 b/d Onsan refinery in S Korea: Sources

Market: Crude oil, Oil products
19/05/22

South Korean firm S-Oil's 580,000 b/d Onsan refinery caught fire today, 19 May, according to several market participants.

The extent of the fire cannot be confirmed, but a source with knowledge of S-Oil's refinery operations said the situation seems to be very bad and market participants said a full shutdown is likely.

The Asian gasoline paper market is moving. The June east-west spread, or the Singapore 92R gasoline price against European gasoline, was at a $8.35/bl discount with the Singapore price lower at 16:30 Singapore time (09:30 GMT) but was around -$6.4/bl at 22:00 Singapore time. The June and July spread was offered at around $6.3/bl in backwardation at 22:17 Singapore time, having been at $5.95/bl at 16:30, according to Argus' prices.

The Onsan refinery houses three crude distillation units with a combined capacity of 580,000 b/d, an 89,000 b/d condensate fractionation unit, a 75,000 b/d hydrocracker, a 73,000 b/d residual fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC), three residue hydro-desulphurisation (RHDS) units with combined capacity of 172,000 b/d, a 76,200 b/d fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCC) and three hydro desulphursation units (HDS) with combined capacity of 120,000 b/d.

The fire comes at a time of record high oil product margins. Gasoline margins in Asia-Pacific this week surpassed $30/bl for the first time. S-Oil recently brought forward planned maintenance at its residue hydro-desulphurisation (RHDS) unit because of an unspecified problem.

By Aldric Chew

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Opec+ eight agree accelerated hike for June: Update

London, 3 May (Argus) — A core group of eight Opec+ members has agreed to accelerate, for a second consecutive month, their plan to unwind some of their production cuts, the Opec secretariat said Saturday. As it did for May, the group will again raise its collective output target by 411,000 b/d in June, three times as much as it had planned in its original roadmap to gradually unwind 2.2mn b/d of crude production cuts by the middle of next year. The original plan envisaged a slow and steady unwind over 18 months from April, with monthly increments of about 137,000 b/d. But today's decision means that the eight — Saudi Arabia, Russia, the UAE, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria, Oman and Kazakhstan — will have unwound almost half of the 2.2mn b/d cut in the space of just three months. The decision to maintain this accelerated pace into June is somewhat surprising, given the weakness in oil prices and the outlook for the global economy. The eight's decision last month to deliver a three-in-one hike in May was seen as a key reason for the recent slide in oil prices, alongside US President Donald Trump's tariff policies. Front month Ice Brent futures have fallen by about $13/bl since early April to stand at just over $61/bl. But the eight today pointed to "current healthy market fundamentals, as reflected in the low oil inventories" as a key factor in its latest decision. It reiterated, as it has in the past, that the gradual monthly increases "may be paused or reversed subject to evolving market conditions." As was the case for May, delegates said that the main driver for the June hike was again a desire to send a message to those countries that have persistently breached their production targets since the start of last year — most notably Kazakhstan and Iraq, which each have significant overproduction to compensate for through the middle of next year. "This measure will provide an opportunity for the participating countries to accelerate their compensation," the secretariat said. This group of eight is due to next meet on 1 June to review market conditions and decide on July production levels. By Nader Itayim, Aydin Calik and Bachar Halabi Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Opec+ eight to agree another accelerated hike for June

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London, 3 May (Argus) — A core group of eight Opec+ members look set to today to accelerate, for a second consecutive month, their plan to unwind some of their production cuts, four delegates told Argus . As it did for May, the group would again raise its collective output target by 411,000 b/d in June, three times as much as it had planned in its original roadmap to gradually unwind 2.2mn b/d of crude production cuts by the middle of next year. The original plan envisaged a slow and steady unwind over 18 months from April, with monthly increments of about 137,000 b/d. But today's decision would mean that the eight — Saudi Arabia, Russia, the UAE, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria, Oman and Kazakhstan — will have unwound almost half of the 2.2mn b/d cut in the space of just three months. The decision to maintain this accelerated pace into June would be somewhat surprising, particularly given the weakness in oil prices and the outlook for the global economy. The eight's decision last month to deliver a three-in-one hike in May was seen as a key reason for the recent slide in oil prices, alongside US President Donald Trump's tariff policies. Front month Ice Brent futures have fallen by about $13/bl since early April to stand at just over $61/bl. While Opec+ has said that it is acting to support an expected rise in summer demand, the decision to speed up the output increases once again appears to be driven by a desire to send a message to countries that have persistently breached their production targets — most notably Kazakhstan and Iraq. By Aydin Calik, Bachar Halabi and Nader Itayim Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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