Refining's big expansion
Teapots are vying with the state giants in China, while India and the Middle East are ramping up
Investors aren't doing much to build new refining capacity in Europe and North America, but Asia, the Middle East and Africa are another story. There, demand continues to grow and governments want to cut down on import bills (or beef up export capacity) and improve energy security. In the first half of 2017, global demand for refined products outpaced expansion in crude distillation unit (CDU) capacity, even without allowing for maintenance shutdowns and output reductions due to technical problems. So capacity utilisation remained high. The longer-term trend of growth in global CDU capacity was actually interrupted in early 2017, due in part to a scaling back of capacity in Japan. But busine
Also in this section
10 March 2026
From Venezuela to Hormuz, the US—backed by the most powerful military force ever assembled—is redrawing not only oil and gas flows but also the global balance of energy power
10 March 2026
By shutting the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has cut exports of distillate-rich Middle Eastern crude, jet fuel and diesel, and is holding the energy market hostage
10 March 2026
Eni’s director for global gas and LNG portfolio, Cristian Signoretto, discusses how demand will respond to rising LNG supply, and how the company is expanding its own gas and LNG operations through disciplined, capital-efficient investments
9 March 2026
Petroleum Economist analysis sees increases in output from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Kazakhstan among others before region’s murky descent
