Processing the high-sulfur crudes produced in the Gulf of Mexico hasn’t been this profitable since 2017, thanks largely to cheap shale gas.
While Europe and Asia grapple with surging prices for natural gas this winter, cheap U.S. supplies allow refiners to extract low-cost hydrogen needed to remove sulfur from the fuel made with sour crudes. That means those crude grades, which were out of favor just a few months ago, are back in demand again.
