LONDON: Royal Dutch Shell said the earliest restart expected for Europe's largest oil refinery is the second half of August.
Shell shut down most of the units at the 404,000 barrel per day (bpd) Pernis oil refinery in the Netherlands following a power outage caused by a fire on the evening of July 29.
"We expect to restart our operations at the earliest in the second half of August," a spokesman said in an email. "We regret the impact this may cause for our customers, and we are doing everything we can to minimize impact."
Shell suspended loadings of oil products from the refinery after the fire, and reported a hydrogen fluoride leak on Monday evening.
US gasoline futures sharply pared losses on the news, as some traders had expected a quicker restart. The US gasoline crack spread, a measure of margins, also trimmed losses and last traded 0.6 percent lower at $20.12 a barrel.
ICE diesel futures in Europe gained $2, rising to $493 a tonne. Margins for all products made gains after news of the shutdown spread in the market, and traders in Asia considered sending distillates to Europe to fill the gap.
Shell said its Moerdijk petrochemicals refinery, which is integrated with Pernis, was still operational.
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