An Exxon Mobil refinery on the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia. A decade ago, Australia was home to seven refineries. Now, it has four. Soon, it could have just one. Covid-19 is accelerating a rash of global refinery shutdowns in the world’s richest economies. Companies from energy giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC to Australian fuel company Ampol Ltd. are closing facilities or considering doing so as they reckon with anemic fuel demand and growing competition from newer, more efficient fuel-making facilities in Asia and the Middle East. Eleven refineries from the U.S. to Japan have said this year that they intended to close. Three have announced partial shutdowns, and at least another five are on the chopping block, according to analytics firm IHS Markit . The thinning out is part of a global shift in fuel-making power away from wealthier countries, where demand is in long-term decline and there are […]