Global refining margins have improved significantly in recent weeks which should support strong demand for crude and lend some strength to both spot prices and spreads in the short term. While diesel markets remain oversupplied and margins poor, gasoline consumption is booming and margins have improved sharply, improving economics for many refineries. There is no straightforward way to estimate the profitability of turning crude into products in real time since every refinery processes a different slate of crudes and produces a different slate of products. Even for the same refinery, crude and product slates can vary significantly over short periods as the refinery’s planning department takes advantage of short-term opportunities in the market place. But the multitude of indicators on refinery margins all point to an […]