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Portugal's Galp Energia has closed its 200,000 barrels-per-day Sines refinery for planned maintenance and restructuring, Reuters reports.

The 45-day shutdown of the bunker-producing facility will mean the company will need to increase imports of oil products during this period, according to Galp Chief Executive Manuel Ferreira de Oliveira.

Speaking to journalists, Ferreira de Oliveira said "In such periods (of maintenance) the company starts with stocks at the maximum level and maximises imports. So, we increase imports of products, reduce crude imports and use stocks that we have available."

The facility is reported to have a storage capacity of 3 million cubic metres of liquids, with 50 percent being for crude oil.

Galp's CEO said it would spend 104 million euros on the maintenance and restructuring works at Sines, which is also the largest refinery in Portugal.

Petrogal S.A., the brand name used for Galp's bunkering activities, supplies 380-centistoke (cst), 180-cst and marine gasoil (MGO) at Sines. However, ex-pipe deliveries of 380-cst and MGO are only available to tankers working cargo at the refinery.

The country's other refinery in Oporto, produces approximately 100,000 barrels-per-day and is also used as a source to supply marine fuel to the bunker market. Petrogal supplies MGO by pipeline to tankers working cargo at the refinery and other general cargo vessels can take MGO or fuel by road tank wagon (RTW).

Sources at Petrogal said that the company did not expect the 45-day shutdown of the Sines refinery to have any serious repercussions on the availability of bunker fuels for customers.