Vienna — OPEC on Tuesday said it expects 2.1 million b/d of refining capacity to be shuttered through 2025 due to overcapacity, and another 5 million b/d of further closures will be needed by 2040. In its World Oil Outlook, OPEC projected some 7.95 million b/d of new crude distillation capacity to come online in the next five years, more than 70% of it in Asia and the Middle East. This is an upward revision from last year’s outlook which forecast 7.8 million b/d of new capacity. The refinery additions will outpace incremental refined product demand by about 4 million b/d, OPEC estimated, up from last year’s estimate of 2.5 million b/d. Plants in the Middle East, the US and Canada may be able to increase their product exports, but refineries in Europe are likely to come under pressure, the report stated. “The excess supply of refining capacity will […]