China set to take refining top spot
The Asian heavyweight looks poised to knock the US off its perch
Asia is, for several reasons, leading the recovery in global crude demand following the unprecedented shock caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. And, within the region, the speed of recovery in Chinese refining throughput has been nothing short of remarkable. At the height of lockdown measures, global refining throughput fell by nearly 12mn bl/d compared with 2019 levels. Although it has since been on a recovery path, it remains more than 5.5mn bl/d below the previous year. In China, however, crude processing followed a very different path, swiftly recovering after February and remaining higher than the previous year’s levels ever since. Drilling further into the detail, it is worth noting, th
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
