Processing the high-sulfur crudes produced in the Gulf of Mexico hasn’t been this profitable since 2017, thanks largely to cheap shale gas. While Europe and Asia grapple with surging prices for natural gas this winter, cheap U.S. supplies allow refiners to extract low-cost hydrogen needed to remove sulfur from the fuel made with sour crudes. That means those crude grades, which were out of favor just a few months ago, are back in demand again. Meanwhile, the recovery from the pandemic has boosted demand for gasoline and diesel, sending benchmark prices for both fuels to their highest since 2014 in October. A government measure of weekly demand for petroleum products reached a record last week. That’s helping U.S. Gulf Coast refineries to process sour crudes into fuel at the highest margins in four years, according to data from industry consultants OILA. American refiners are also taking advantage of a […]