As oil producers agonize over tumbling crude prices, strong car sales in India and China are underpinning demand for gasoline, giving makers of refined products and petrochemicals healthy margins. While that means share prices of refiners with little or no crude production are outperforming primarily crude producers, much could hinge on China’s economy and Beijing’s policy of tax breaks for small car buyers. Crude oil prices fell to their lowest in over a decade this week, trading close to $30 a barrel, and are down 70 percent since mid-2014. This has been painful for oil producers and exporters, but has boosted refinery margins as feedstock costs have tumbled. “If (the annual average) oil price is $40-$50 a barrel, we’re quite confident margins will be higher than last year,” Sukrit Surabotsopon, CEO of Thai refiner IRPC, told Reuters. The average price for Brent last year was close to $54 a […]