Asia refining down cycle to last through 2010

Low margins, falling utilization rates and weak oil demand are set to bedevil Asian refiners through 2010, even if some of the large capacity additions planned over the next two years are pushed back. Analysts are expecting a more severe downturn in Asia’s refining cycle, as investments made when margins were high are coming onstream in China and India, just as the markets turned bearish. Asia is expected to see a supply glut of more than one million barrels per day of oil products, and fundamentals aren’t likely to improve until the second half of 2010. (December 30, 2008)