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