Saudi Aramco has shut a desulphurisation unit at its 305,000 barrels-per-day joint venture refinery with Royal Dutch Shell in Jubail due to a glitch, three trading sources said on Tuesday.

The unit at The Saudi Aramco Shell Refinery Company (Sasref) in Jubail will remain shut until the end of the month when the issues are resolved, the sources said.

Sasref will also bring the second desulphurisation unit offline in early May for at least two weeks, two sources said.

A Sasref spokesman could not be reached for comment.

As a result of the shutdown, the refinery awarded up to 400,000 tonnes of cracked fuel oil to Shell International Trading Middle East (SITME) after it issued a tender to sell 180-centistoke (cst) fuel oil cargoes.-Reuters