South Korea's Hyundai Oilbank at Full Capacity

South Korea's Hyundai Oilbank is running its 390,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery in Daesan at full capacity to prepare for peak winter demand, industry sources said on Tuesday.

"(The refinery) is running at full capacity because of preparation for winter demand season when there is a strong demand for heating oil including kerosene," the source added. The sources declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.

A Hyundai Oilbank spokeswoman declined to comment. The refiner cut its operating rate by five percentage points in August due to a high inventory of middle distillate stocks and poor refining margins.

Another South Korean refiner S-Oil Corp is also running its crude units, which are not under maintenance, at near maximum capacity to make up for lost production of units under maintenance, industry sources said.

A S-Oil spokesman declined to comment. The refiner planned to shut its No.3 crude distillation unit for planned maintenance in the fourth quarter for 26 days.

S-Oil, whose main shareholder is Saudi Aramco, said on Monday it expected global demand for refined oil products to continue to grow in the fourth quarter and next year, supporting refining margins.

The complex refining margins in Singapore have averaged at $6.33 a barrel over the last week, up 52 cents from the August average, Reuters data showed.

Reporting by Jessica Jaganathan