Saudi Aramco Said to Complete Ras Tanura Refinery Maintenance

Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabian Oil Co., the Gulf country’s state-owned crude producer, restarted the Ras Tanura oil refinery after a complete shutdown for maintenance ended, according to a person familiar with the refinery’s operations.

The company, known as Saudi Aramco, shut the facility for a 45-day maintenance period starting Dec. 16 and completed the work as scheduled, said the person, who asked not to be named because the work plan was not made public. Aramco declined to comment on the shutdown schedule.

Aramco completed work on an asphalt unit at Ras Tanura, a company spokesman said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. The company said in November it would close the asphalt unit at the 550,000 barrel-a-day refinery from mid-December through January.

Saudi Arabia, holder of the world’s largest oil reserves and the biggest producer in the 12-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, imports refined products such as gasoline because it lacks capacity to meet domestic demand.

The company offered to sell 90,000 metric tons of A961 grade high-sulfur fuel oil for loading Feb. 5 at Ras Tanura, an official who asked not to be identified said Jan. 20.

Aramco is investing in refining capacity even given the current poor returns, Chief Executive Officer Khalid al-Falih said at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week. Refiners worldwide have postponed expansion projects and idled plants in the past year as the global recession eroded fuel demand, squeezing profit margins for oil processors.

$120 Billion Investment

The company plans to invest more than $120 billion in the next six years on crude oil and petrochemical projects, al-Falih said in an interview aired on Al Arabiya television Jan. 31.

The largest economy in the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council plans to double domestic and international oil refining capacity by 2015, Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said in a speech at Beijing University Nov. 13. The kingdom increased crude output capacity to 12.5 million barrels a day in June, al-Naimi said.

The Dhahran-based company has begun to expand and upgrade its oil and gas production and refining businesses at a cost of $100 billion to tap rising demand in Asia, al-Naimi said at the time.

GCC member states Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are also OPEC members. OPEC’s other members are Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, and Venezuela. GCC members Oman and Bahrain are not in OPEC.

To contact the reporter on this story: Anthony DiPaola in Dubai at adipaola@bloomberg.net.