Indonesia tipped to lead global gasoline market
Indonesia is predicted to lead the global gasoline trade by 2018, opening up new supply opportunities for European and US refiners
A new report from Wood Mackenzie shows that Indonesia will emerge as the world's biggest importer of gasoline as US and Mexican imports - markets with the largest combined deficit over the last decade - shrink. From 2012 to 2018, Indonesia's gasoline deficit will expand from 340,000 barrels per day (b/d) to around 420,000 b/d, data from the energy research firm shows. At the same time, the US and Mexico's combined deficit will narrow from 560,000 b/d to 60,000 b/d, with a surplus expected in the following years. By 2018, the Asia Pacific region's surplus will shift from 55,000 b/d in 2012 to a deficit of 118,000 b/d, bolstered by rising consumption in Indonesia. Demand in the Southeast Asian
Also in this section
5 March 2026
Gas is a central pillar of Colombia’s energy system, but declining production poses a significant challenge, and LNG will be increasingly needed as a stopgap. A recent major offshore gas discovery offers hope, but policy improvements are also required, Camilo Morales, secretary general of Naturgas, the Colombian gas association, tells Petroleum Economist
4 March 2026
The continent’s inventories were already depleted before conflict erupted in the Middle East, causing prices to spike ahead of the crucial summer refilling season
4 March 2026
The US president has repeatedly promised to lower gasoline prices, but this ambition conflicts with his parallel aim to increase drilling and could be upended by his war against Iran
4 March 2026
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed following US-Israel strikes and Iran’s retaliatory escalation, Fujairah has become the region’s critical pressure release valve—and is now under serious threat






