Refiners face numerous challenges in 2022
Tide turns for middle distillates
Strong prices for middle distillates might persist due to a range of supply and demand factors
Dated Brent reached $100/bl in mid-February, exposing refiners to a new set of challenges for the year ahead, including crude procurement, managing high operating costs—due to high natural gas and carbon prices—and the need to address growing product demand. At the same time, jet fuel margins show strong signs of recovery and gasoil/diesel balances appear set to tighten even further. The key themes in product markets last year were the strength of gasoline and refiners opting to blend surplus jet fuel into the diesel pool, while 2022 has ushered in a new set of challenges and opportunities for refiners. The most notable of these has been the rally in middle distillates. Several factors have
Also in this section
16 April 2025
Israel continues to strike new oil and gas concession agreements and gas exports continue to rise, but an overreliance on Egypt remains the big concern
15 April 2025
Loss of US shipments of key petrochemical feedstock could see Beijing look to Tehran with tariffs set to upend global LPG flows
15 April 2025
Australia’s East Coast Gas projections for a supply shortfall have been pushed further out, but the challenge to meet evolving gas demand and the shifting assumptions around the fundamentals remain just as stark
15 April 2025
Long-delayed prospects for onshore LNG production in Mozambique have improved thanks to US financing approval, but security challenges blight way ahead
