Asia and the Middle East continue to invest in refineries despite oil price

The majors have seen their refinery fortunes rebound this year. But the super-refineries in the Middle East and Asia and rising ethane output in the US continue to put pressure on refiners to change their ways

The Middle East and Asia are changing the face of refining, building big plants with an eye on exports as well as satisfying rising domestic demand coming from their emerging middle classes. With low feedstock prices combined with economies of scale, their ambitions could spell more bad news for operators of inefficient plant, particularly in Europe. Undeterred by the low global oil price, Gulf officials are keen to push ahead with new projects at a time when lower commodity prices are making construction material less expensive than in the past. “Many projects around the region are being cancelled. But this is a unique opportunity for us when oil prices are down,” said Kuwait National Petro