Global oil refiners shut down as coronavirus destroys demand

SINGAPORE/NEW DELHI/SEOUL/LONDON: The first oil refinery shutdowns in India and Europe were announced on Friday while global refinery runs drop like a stone in response to plunging demand as countries worldwide implement lockdowns.

In Asia, home to more than a third of global refining capacity, India's top refiner IOC said in a letter to crude suppliers that it had reduced runs by up to 40 per cent and closed its Panipat naphtha cracker plant because of sliding petrochemicals demand.Meanwhile, operators in Japan, South Korea and Thailand - already running at reduced rates - are looking at more cuts even as they shut plants for maintenance.

Overall products supplied in the United States fell by 2.1 million bpd in the most recent week, representing close to a 10 per cent drop, while IHS Markit estimates that gasoline demand in the world's biggest oil consumer could drop by nearly half in the coming weeks. "Such a collapse in demand will be an unprecedented shock for the global refining system," the analysts said.The coronavirus pandemic has roiled financial markets, with oil hit particularly hard. Crude prices have crashed by about 60per cent so far this year - on track for the biggest quarterly loss on record.

"This first quarter would be the worst first quarter we have ever seen as producing oil products was loss-making," said Cho Sang-bum, an official at the Korea Petroleum Association.South Korea run rates fell to 82.8 per cent in February, the lowest for the month since 2014. The cuts are unlikely to stop there, however, with demand for gasoline and diesel expected to fall 30 per cent year on year in March, according to sources and data from the Korea National Oil Corp.

barobertson111 Saudi’s might have something to do with this too 😉 Big clean up occuring

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