Maintenance tightens distillate supply in west Germany

Regional middle distillate prices in Germany diverged last week, with values in the west boosted by refinery maintenance and oversupply weighing on prices in the south.

Heating oil and road fuel supply in Cologne, western Germany has fallen sharply since the beginning of last week after maintenance work started at the 187,000 b/d Godorf refinery at Shell's Rhineland complex.

There was also reduced availability at the nearby 147,000 b/d Wesseling refinery, part of the same Rhineland complex, and a tank farm in Flörsheim that is connected to the complex via pipeline. One supplier halted spot sales of middle distillates and gasoline until at least the beginning of September, traders said.

Traders that typically buy product in Cologne or Flörsheim had to take longer journeys to other tank farms or go south to the Miro consortium's 315,000 b/d Karlsruhe refinery.

Product in Karlsruhe is currently trading at a steep discount to Cologne. Oversupply has put pressure on prices in Karlsruhe for the past few weeks after weak demand and irregular train departures because of a staff shortage left suppliers with more product than they anticipated towards the end of August.

Freight rates for barges that need to pass the Rhine bottleneck in Kaub went up significantly last week after water levels dropped to their lowest point in around 10 months on 30 August.

Water levels are expected to fall below 1m this week. Barges to destinations along the Upper Rhine would then only be able to load up to 40pc of their maximum capacity, making it likely that freight rates will rise further.

By Natalie Mueller