The higher sales emerged because of maintenance works on the residue fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC) unit at Ruwais, sources said.
At least two SRFO cargoes are loading out from Ruwais this month, said industry sources, compared to zero last month, ship-tracking data from Kpler showed.
A total of 170,000 metric tons of SRFO are loading from Ruwais in January, with fuel oil export volumes at their highest in about a year and a half, the data showed.
An ADNOC spokesperson confirmed that planned maintenance has commenced at the Ruwais refinery but declined to comment on cargoes.
The 127,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) RFCC unit processes heavy residual fuel oil into higher-valued refined products such as gasoline and diesel.
The unit is located in the western part of the 835,000-bpd Ruwais refinery complex.
