SINGAPORE, Aug 14 — A fuel oil cargo from Malaysia’s PRefChem is heading to the US for the first time since 2023, shipping data showed, as disruptions from the Iran war keep global supplies of refinery feedstocks tight.
The low-sulphur straight-run (LSSR) cargo can be fed into a refining unit to produce higher-margin distillates such as gasoline and diesel. The last fuel oil cargo from PRefChem to the US was shipped in May 2023, according to Kpler and LSEG data.
The Solomon Sea departed from the Vopak Dialog Pengerang terminal on August 8 carrying more than 540,000 barrels of LSSR fuel and is scheduled to arrive in the US in early September, Kpler data showed.
The cargo is heading to a refinery on the US West Coast, a source familiar with the matter said.
State-owned Petronas, which owns the 300,000-barrel-per-day PRefChem refinery in Pengerang, did not respond to a request for comment.
Robust refining margins are supporting global refinery demand for feedstocks, while supplies remain tight because of the US-Iran war.
US refiners typically import fuel oil from closer sources such as Mexico and Venezuela.
Meanwhile, PRefChem has sold more fuel oil for August loading through recent tenders, trade sources said, with three other cargoes of about 540,000 barrels each of LSSR atmospheric residue scheduled to load this month.
One cargo was loaded between August 12 and 13, ship-tracking data showed, while the other two were offered for loading between August 21 and 22, and August 30 and 31.
The refinery’s atmospheric distillation unit was offline from June 21 to July 10, according to data from energy consultancy IIR, which tracks refinery outages.
PRefChem typically produces gasoline and diesel, while producing fuel oil only sporadically.
