Saudi Aramco has resumed operations at the Ras Tanura refinery, the largest in the Kingdom, after it was temporarily shut down as a precaution following a nearby drone incident, according to a source cited by Bloomberg.
The refinery had been closed on March 2 amid escalating regional tensions, as Iran responded to US and Israeli actions with attacks targeting energy infrastructure, including refineries, oil terminals, and vessels in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.
At the time, Saudi authorities said Aramco halted operations at the Ras Tanura facility, which has a capacity of 550,000 barrels per day, after intercepting two drones at the site.
The shutdown further tightened oil and fuel supplies from the Middle East. Roughly 20 percent of global petroleum shipments typically pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which has largely been closed to tanker traffic, except for Iranian shipments heading to China.
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As a result, supply disruptions in the Gulf have forced several Asian refineries to reduce processing rates, as replacing the lost crude has proven difficult and uncertainty remains about the duration of the disruption.
Sinopec, China’s largest refiner, has reportedly cut its processing rates by about 10 percent, while the country has also imposed a ban on fuel exports.
In Japan, refinery utilisation dropped to 69.1 percent by the end of last week, down from 77 percent the previous week. Gasoline inventories in the country also declined by nearly 10 percent, according to industry data.
Meanwhile, Japanese refiner Idemitsu Kosan has reduced its refined product sales, although the company did not specify the extent of the cuts.
