Shell Ships 'Slurry Oil' from Singapore to UAE

In an unusual arbitrage move, Shell International Eastern Trading Company (SIETCO) has chartered a tanker to ship up to 80,000 tonnes of slurry oil from Singapore to Ruwais in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Shell has chartered the tanker Maersk Prosper to load 80,000 tonnes of fuel oil from Singapore on Aug. 18 to 20 and for discharge into Ruwais at a $450,000 fee, according to data from two shipbroker reports and a trade source with knowledge of the matter.

Ruwais in the UAE is the site of Abu Dhabi National Oil Corp's (ADNOC) 800,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery.

The Ruwais refinery rarely imports residual fuel oil products. Since January 2017, the Ruwais refinery has been a major exporter of feedstock grade straight-run fuel oil after a fire forced it to shut its 127,000 bpd residue fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC).

Shell does not comment on details of commercial agreements or the movement of cargoes, a Shell spokeswoman said.

ADNOC did not respond to an emailed request for comment. Their offices are closed for Eid holidays until August 26.

Slurry oil is a residual by-product of the oil refining process and is typically mixed with heavy fuel oil to reduce its viscosity, but can also be used a refining feedstock.

(Reporting by Roslan Khasawneh; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)