A major new joint-venture refinery in Saudi Arabia may ramp up production and run at full capacity in a month, a source close to the company, Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Co (Yasref), said.

The 400,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) refinery, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and China's Sinopec, is currently running at about 60 per cent of capacity, the source added.

The refinery, which started trial runs in September, loaded its first diesel cargo from Yanbu on the Red Sea coast this week.

While the company did not specify where the cargo is headed, it will most likely be shipped to Jeddah or Egypt, industry sources said.

A second diesel cargo will be loaded in two to three days while the first gasoline cargo is expected to be shipped in 10 to 15 days, the source added.

Yasref is the second refinery to start up in Saudi Arabia in the past two years and will complete state company Saudi Aramco's transformation into a leading exporter of diesel.

The start up of giant refineries in the Middle East has placed pressure on diesel premiums as supply is expected to far exceed demand growth which has reduced due to slowing economies, traders said.

Yasref will produce 263,000 bpd of diesel, 90,000 bpd of gasoline, 6,200 tonnes per day of petroleum coke, 1,200 tonnes a day of pelletized sulphur and 140,000 tonnes a year of benzene, according to the company website.

The first cargo will be marketed by Saudi Aramco, which holds 62.5 per cent share of output from the mega refinery, an industry source said.

Sinopec, which holds the remaining share, will target Europe and East Africa for diesel shipments from the refinery. - Reuters