The International Energy Agency this week revised down its gasoline and jet fuel demand forecast for the rest of the year. In seemingly unrelated news, Philips 66 said that it is turning a San Francisco refinery into a biofuels plant. In separate news, Shell said it would permanently shutter a refinery in the Philippines. These news stories only seem unrelated at first glance. A deeper look shows they point to a changing industry. Refiners were among the worst-hit oil and gas industry segments in this crisis. Usually making their money from the price difference between crude oil and oil derivatives, this time refiners could rely on the usual stable demand for oil derivatives. The coronavirus pandemic slashed oil product demand and, consequently, refiners’ margins. Now, more than ever, refiners need to change to survive. Consolidation and closures: this was what analysts expected would happen in the downstream industry as […]