State-oil giant Saudi Arabian Oil Co., or Saudi Aramco, Monday said it shut its 124,000 barrels per day refinery in Riyadh for a month for planned maintenance.

During the maintenance period there won't be a shortage of refined products for clients and Aramco will compensate the market by boosting the capacity of other refineries in the kingdom, it said.

A source familiar with the matter told Dow Jones Newswires in December that the plant will be shutdown for modification to produce low-sulfur gasoline.

The Riyadh refinery, located in the central region of the world's top oil exporter, is supplied with crude oil from the East-West pipeline that runs from the east of the country to the Red Sea coast. It includes a 30,000 barrels-per-day hydrocracker and a 30,000 barrels-per-day catalytic reformer for upgrading naphtha to gasoline blending products.

Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia is expanding its refining capacity to produce more gasoline and diesel to meet rising domestic demand.

Saudi Aramco owns and operates four refineries serving the local market, with a combined refining capacity of 1 million barrels per day. The company also owns a 50% interest in Saudi Aramco Mobil Refinery Co. and in Saudi Aramco Total Refinery and Petrochemicals Co., a joint venture with France 's Total (TOT) that will produce cleaner fuels.

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