The European Union’s crisis holds political and economic leaders transfixed, but for the oil market it merely underlines the region’s established role as only a secondary engine to global energy demand. Britain’s vote to leave the European Union and strikes that crippled France’s energy industry in May, elicited barely a lasting ripple on global energy markets. “In terms of oil, it’s the best place to have an economic slowdown without having a big impact on demand growth,” said Chris Main, oil strategist with Citi Group. “European industry just doesn’t contribute much to global demand growth.” In oil demand growth, and in refining, the spotlight has for long shifted to developing markets in Asia, the Middle East and even the United States, where drivers hitting the road in record numbers are fuelling a resurgence in demand growth. Oil traders are accustomed to seeing the EU as a market with barely […]