LONDON, Sept 14 (Reuters) - The pipeline that carries oilproducts such as diesel, jet fuel and gasoline between theAmsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp refining hub and Germany hasmaintenance operations planned for September, traders said onMonday.
The 583-km Rhein-Main-Rohrleitungstransportgesellschaft(RMR) pipeline will close for a total of two weeks, traderssaid, though the precise start date was not clear. RMR did notimmediately respond to a request for comment.
Royal Dutch Shell and BP are the primarystakeholders in the pipeline.
The works come at an inconvenient time for inland Europeanbuyers of oil products; water levels on the key Rhine waterwayhave dropped so low that barges cannot load more than half theirusual capacity, a problem that has dogged the market sinceAugust.
Seasonal refinery maintenance is also limiting the amount offuels produced within Germany, leading some in that country andSwitzerland to try to import more oil products via rail.
"It's the only way to get enough product to the southernparts of Germany or Switzerland at the moment," one trader said. (Reporting by Libby George; Editing by Mark Potter)