Water levels at the Rhine choke point have fallen to a seasonal low, hampering inland diesel shipments from Europe’s oil trading hub.
Europe’s busiest commercial waterway is being watched closely after a drought last summer made it effectively unnavigable. In addition to transporting fuels such as diesel and heating oil inland, the Rhine also handles coal, chemicals, and metals.
The level of barge clearance at the Kaub, a narrow point on the river that ships can struggle to pass on their journey inland, is at its lowest this time of year for at least 30 years. water levels at that point weather forecast until July 1.
The barges that ferry fuel from the Rotterdam area outside of Kaup can currently carry just over 1,200 tons of fuel, according to Riverlake Barging. That’s down from about 2,000 tons a week ago.
Dry weather last year, along with a series of outages at refineries in southern Germany, led to fuel shortages in parts of inner Europe. One of four oil processing plants in southern Germany suffered a diesel production disruption this week, which has also led to fuel shortages in the region.
Barge rates for transporting heating oil to the Upper Rhine are already high at this time of year.
Bayernoil, which operates an oil processing complex, took a large diesel-making machine known as a hydrocracking machine out of service this week, according to Wood Mackenzie. The complex has suffered a disruption to bulk diesel supplies this month.
