Oil demand is recovering. This has been the most important message from analysts for the energy industry over the past couple of weeks. OPEC+ is cutting production, and so are producers in the U.S. and Canada. The restoration of balance in the oil market is on the horizon. There is, however, one large segment of the industry for which the news is not so good – the downstream segment. Typically, refiners profit in a very simple way: they buy crude oil, process it into fuels and plastics feedstocks, and sell these for a higher price. Cheap oil is normally the best scenario for refiners. That is, as long as there is a demand for their refined products. This has not been the case during the current crisis, and now refiners around the world are struggling to survive. Many of them won’t make it, according to recent reports from analysts. […]