7 days ago
US Refiners Are Bullish on Margins as Heavy Oil Output Rebounds
A key driver of US refiners' profitability — the ability to buy heavy crude at cheap prices — is set to improve in the second half of the year as Canadian and Middle Eastern production rebounds.
Along with demand for their core fuel products, refiners need cost-effective inputs, and many have retooled plants — especially along the Gulf Coast — to process increasing amounts of discounted heavy crude or to more easily switch between light and heavy oil. That shift has made the price spread between the two grades a closely watched barometer for refiners' earnings power.
