Covid-19 accelerates refinery rationalisation
Significant regional changes hurried along by the pandemic will permanently alter global dynamics
Global refining capacity looked over-supplied even before the Covid-19 pandemic, with projections of capacity growth exceeding increases in refined product demand by a factor of 2:1. New capabilities in the Middle East and Asia are the major driver of this mismatch. But any demand projections made before 2020 have now been summarily torn up, following the collapse in refined product demand due to coronavirus lockdowns and significant uncertainty over whether or if requirements will return to pre-pandemic levels. Refinery throughput reductions have been substantial globally in 2020 but have varied by region. In the US, refinery utilisation rates dropped as low as 68pc in April before recover
Also in this section
14 May 2024
But there is still plenty of appetite for the country’s LNG in the Asia-Pacific region
14 May 2024
The former CEO of Pioneer, Scott Sheffield, has opened a can of worms through his association with OPEC+ and its market management strategy
13 May 2024
OPEC+ has huge amounts of spare capacity amid a tightening market, but nothing can be taken for granted given unclear economic trajectories and geopolitical unrest
13 May 2024
But optimism about island nation checked by competition around African upstream investment and history of false dawns