Refining's big expansion
Teapots are vying with the state giants in China, while India and the Middle East are ramping up
Investors aren't doing much to build new refining capacity in Europe and North America, but Asia, the Middle East and Africa are another story. There, demand continues to grow and governments want to cut down on import bills (or beef up export capacity) and improve energy security. In the first half of 2017, global demand for refined products outpaced expansion in crude distillation unit (CDU) capacity, even without allowing for maintenance shutdowns and output reductions due to technical problems. So capacity utilisation remained high. The longer-term trend of growth in global CDU capacity was actually interrupted in early 2017, due in part to a scaling back of capacity in Japan. But busine
Also in this section
20 February 2026
The country is pushing to increase production and expand key projects despite challenges including OPEC+ discipline and the limitations of its export infrastructure
20 February 2026
Europe has transformed into a global LNG demand powerhouse over the last few years, with the fuel continuing to play a key role in safeguarding the continent’s energy security, Carsten Poppinga, chief commercial officer at Uniper, tells Petroleum Economist
20 February 2026
Sempra Infrastructure’s vice president for marketing and commercial development, Carlos de la Vega, outlines progress across the company’s US Gulf Coast and Mexico Pacific Coast LNG portfolio, including construction at Port Arthur LNG, continued strong performance at Cameron LNG and development of ECA LNG
19 February 2026
US LNG exporter Cheniere Energy has grown its business rapidly since exporting its first cargo a decade ago. But Chief Commercial Officer Anatol Feygin tells Petroleum Economist that, as in the past, the company’s future expansion plans are anchored by high levels of contracted offtake, supporting predictable returns on investment






