Kuwait's largest refinery Mina Al Ahmadi will be partially shut in mid-May for planned maintenance that is expected to last up to 30 days, four industry sources said on Tuesday.     

The maintenance will include shutting down a crude distillation unit (CDU), an atmospheric residue desulphurisation unit and some other units, the sources said.     

Refinery shutdowns change the short-term balances of the oil products market in the region and are closely watched by traders.     

The capacity of the CDU to be shut was not immediately available but the total capacity of the three CDUs at Mina Al Ahmadi refinery is 466,000 barrels per day (bpd).     

Opec member Kuwait has a total refining capacity of 930,000 bpd in three refineries. One trading source said there were also plans to partially shut down Kuwait's Mina Abdullah refinery later in the year but that the dates had not been set yet.- Reuters