Supply issues affect fuel prices in western Germany

Fuel prices in Germany are diverging as some regions struggle with reduced refinery output.

Distillate supply in Cologne, in western Germany, is still tight. A major supplier at Shell's 340,000 b/d Rhineland refinery in Cologne halted spot sales of heating oil and diesel in mid-September. An unplanned unit outage is the reason for the drop in supplies, traders in the region said.

The supplier also restricted spot sales of gasoline throughout the month until the beginning of last week. Gasoline supplies at the Rhineland refinery and the nearby Florsheim storage facility are rising but traders in the region are buying gasoline elsewhere due to high local prices.

Maintenance works at the 187,000 b/d Godorf plant of the Rhineland refinery are further restricting supply.

Last week, the Bayernoil consortium's 215,000 b/d Vohburg-Neustadt refinery in southern Germany experienced an drop in production levels. Sources said unplanned maintenance works at an unspecified unit led to reduced road fuels output, prompting multiple suppliers to halt spot sales of diesel and gasoline.

The Miro consortium's 310,000 b/d Karlsruhe refinery and the PCK consortium's 230,000 b/d Schwedt refinery in eastern Germany are oversupplied. Rail works near Schwedt have been restricting transport of product for several months, traders said. This caused a backlog of trains in September, and suppliers at the refinery lowered their prices to incentivise truck loadings and free up inventory space.

Diesel imports into northern Germany almost doubled in September compared with August because of a slight increase in domestic demand.

By Natalie Mueller