Shell to shut crude unit at Singapore refinery for maintenance: traders

[SINGAPORE] Royal Dutch Shell will shut a crude unit at its 500,000 barrels-per-day Bukom refinery in Singapore for planned maintenance in the third quarter, several traders from outside the company said.

A Shell spokeswoman declined to provide details related to any work, citing the company's disclosure policy. She added that Shell routinely planned maintenance on equipment.

The refiner will shut the 210,000 bpd crude distillation unit (CDU), its largest such unit at the facility, for around one or two months, the traders said.

Three of them said the work would start on July 20, while two others said it could start later in the quarter.

One of them said a diesel-producing hydrocracker unit might also be shut during the period.

The maintenance work at Bukom is expected to boost oil product margins in Singapore, traders said.

REUTERS