Libya has exported two low sulfur straight run fuel oil cargoes from Zawiya, sources said Tuesday.
There were reports that BP and Vitol had each taken a cargo of LSSR from Zawiya, according to sources.
BP confirmed that it had loaded its cargo on the Mare Atlantic panamax. Vitol was unavailable to comment on reports that it had loaded LSSR on the Minerva Vaso panamax, which according to Platts C-Flow ship tracking software, was now heading to the US.
"Yes, we saw the exports but the quality was not normal grade, sulfur is in the 1.4-1.5% range. I heard BP took his to storage in NWE as there's no buying interest and Vitol offered their cargo into the US with similar lack of interest," a source said.
Other sources said the sulfur content of the cargoes was slightly lower at 1.1%.
Earlier in the month, Libya exported two cargoes of medium sulfur straight run fuel oil from Zawiya, with up to 1.7% sulfur content, according to sources.
Sources said Libya had in the past exported about eight cargoes a month of straight run fuel oil, but far less during the recent protests.
The 340,000 b/d Sharara field, the usual supply source for the Zawiya refinery, resumed production in early July, allowing production to ramp up at the 120,000 b/d Zawiya refinery which is now reported to be operating at full capacity.
Sharara, like much of the country's land-based crude supply, is light and sweet.
But throughout much of the country's recent turmoil, the Zawiya plant used non-Sharara crudes from Marsa el-Brega, Marsa el-Hariga and, beginning in June, the nearby Mellitah terminal.
The refinery also took one cargo of heavier crude from the off-shore terminals of Bori and al Jurf in early June after Marsa al-Hariga was briefly closed by renewed protest, prompting a temporary shift to a heavier crude slate, sources said.
