20SEP2019 - NEWS - Saudi attacks rattle shippers' plan to switch fuels

Refinery outages in Saudi Arabia following weekend attacks on its oil facilities could deal a blow to the shipping industry’s preparations for the biggest switch in fuel standards in decades.Saudi Aramco, the state-run oil company, shut an estimated 40% of its refining capacity, roughly 1 million barrels per day (bpd), following Saturday’s missile and drone strikes on a major oilfield and the country’s largest processing plant.

It remains unclear how long refinery output will be curtailed. The outage has crimped global supplies of diesel, which Saudi Arabia regularly exports in large volumes.