Oil Bulls Fret as Sliding Profits Spur Talk of Refinery Cuts
- Asian gasoline, diesel margins plunge on worsening demand
- Run cuts in Asia may spread to Europe; US markets stay firm
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A steep slump in oil-refining profits over the last few weeks has left traders and analysts talking about one thing — run cuts.
The cuts, which refer to lower processing rates at oil refineries, were far from the minds of most market observers a month ago when lower crude prices supported margins. But then OPEC+’s surprise output cut at the start of April pushed up feedstock costs and Asian fuel markets moved into surplus. That’s seen refiner profits take a tumble, a trend that’s also spreading to Europe.