Qatar International Petroleum Marketing Company (Tasweeq), has offered its first ultra-low-sulphur diesel cargo for export from a new secondary unit at its Laffan refinery, industry sources said.

The product could eventually displace the high sulphur gasoil the company offers in the spot market, supplies of which are dwindling swiftly in Asia and the Middle East, they added.

The company will also have to compete with other new refineries in the Middle East, the majority of which are designed to produce ultra-low-sulphur diesel that meets European environmental standards, in order to export some to Europe, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publican.

"It's getting more and more difficult to buy the high-sulphur gasoil as refineries are producing the more profitable low-sulphur diesel, which could force countries to adopt cleaner fuel standards," a Gulf-based trader said.

In its latest tender, Tasweeq offered 291,000 barrels of diesel, with 50 parts per million (ppm) sulphur and 13,000 barrels of 0.2 per cent sulphur gasoil for loading from Ras Laffan in Qatar in September.

The tender closes on August 19. It normally offers gasoil cargoes with 2,000 ppm, or 0.2 per cent, sulphur. - TradeArabia News Service