Rhine water levels hit crisis point – piling pressure on Europe's inland oil supply chain

In this insight we highlight Wood Mackenzie’s growing refined products real-time data and analytics, leveraging Vessel Tracker and Genscape capabilities. Our Rhine Oil Barge Service complements our existing European Waterborne Product and Retail Fuels Services. By leveraging our Vesseltracker data and market intelligence we provide real-time insight into barge movements from the ARA trading hub into the River Rhine and inland retail fuels markets. Record low water levels on the Rhine are causing severe disruption to the distribution of oil products at a time when inland Europe is already short diesel/gasoil. Major restrictions will be imposed on barges operating along the Rhine in the coming days. Product entering the upper Rhine will be curtailed, adding pressure to Europe’s distillate market and inland retail fuel prices. We assess the recent changes in barge flows, economics of shipping products inland and response to retail fuel prices and margins.