(Adds impact, background)
LONDON, June 9 (Reuters) - A major pipeline feeding oilproducts from the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp refinery hub intoGermany was shut this week after a leak was reported in theNetherlands, the operating company said in a statement onThursday.
The Dutch-German Rotterdam-Rijn Pijpleiding (RRP)distillates pipeline, partly owned by Royal Dutch Shell and BP, will be closed for at least a day as the companyinvestigates the leak and makes any necessary repairs.
The 24-inch pipeline has a capacity of 2,000 cubic metresper hour, according to the RRP website. Oil traders say thatwhen it is running it always operates at full capacity to meetdemand for bringing fuel into Germany, Europe's top consumer ofdistillates such as diesel and heating oil.
Oil market sources said deliveries had already been affectedto storage sites in Germany that are served by the pipeline, andsources in the ARA region said Shell had stopped offering dieselinto the pipeline from its 400,000 barrel per day Pernisrefinery, the largest in Europe.
Still, the soft summer demand season for distillates hadtempered the impact of the closure on local German markets, andsources said oil products could also be delivered via bargeswhen the pipeline is not fully operational. (Reporting By Ron Bousso and Libby George; Editing by GregMahlich and William Hardy)