Record US crude receipts at Spain's Tarragona in Jan

Spanish integrated Repsol's 180,000 b/d refinery at the Mediterranean port of Tarragona continued its strong recent form with rising crude receipts in January, including the largest amount of US crude it has received in a month.

Argus tracking show 205,000 b/d of crude arrived in January, up from 170,000 b/d in December. Last year the facility averaged 180,000 b/d overall, compared with 145,000 b/d in 2022 when throughput was tempered in the fourth quarter by planned maintenance.

Tarragona has become the Mediterranean region's most consistent refinery. It is able to operate at nameplate capacity for an extended period, unlike the large majority of its regional rivals (see chart).

January imports comprised 100,000 b/d of US WTI. Deliveries of the grade started with a single cargo in October 2019, but it only began arriving regularly in January 2022. Last year it took top spot for the first time at the refinery, with 45,000 b/d, ousting other light grades. Previous Tarragona staple Caspian CPC Blend disappeared from the slate. Around 1.4mn bl of WTI are on the way to Tarragona on a pair of tankers.

In addition in January the refinery received 40,000 b/d of Libyan crude split between Mellitah and Brega grades, around 35,000 b/d of Brazilian crude, 30,000 b/d of Angolan Clov and around 5,000 b/d of Mexican Maya in a delivery split with Repsol's 220,000 b/d Cartagena unit.

Tarragona received close to 30,000 b/d of heavy crude for the 1.2mn t/yr Asesa bitumen plant - a joint venture between Repsol and refiner Cepsa. This was one shipment of Venezuelan Boscan - also split with Cartagena - amounting to 20,000 b/d and some unspecified crude loaded in Malta.

Excluding the Asesa deliveries, Argus assessed Tarragona's January slate at a weighted average 37°API and 0.5pc sulphur content, compared with 35.4°API and 0.4pc sulphur in December. The refinery's slate was maintained in 2023 even with the extra deliveries of WTI. It was 36.6°API and 0.3pc sulphur, almost identical to the estimated 36.4°API and 0.35pc sulphur overall in 2022.

By Adam Porter