Global oil refining business sees an upturn

The refining business has seen improved profitability since the start of the year – particularly in the US, where strong margins are supporting corporate restructurings

The start of the year marked an upturn in refining profitability, with margins rising and – after last year’s increases in refined-products consumption – building revenues. Large refiners, with facilities at the world’s main refining centres, have benefited, although the world’s smaller and more remote refineries still struggle for profitability. In the US, increasing downstream profitability is supporting corporate restructurings into separate upstream and downstream units – a move that reverses the vertically integrated oil companies’ decades-old acquire-and-grow business model. Meanwhile, particularly in Europe, many refineries are for sale as the large operators – led by Shell and Total