US refining faces mounting competition
Asian refiners edging out US competition
Rising decarbonisation costs make coastal US refiners vulnerable to expanding Asian export capacity
The closure of ageing refining capacity in recent years amid mounting competition and environmental compliance costs has left US coasts increasingly dependent on imported refined oil products. And export-oriented refineries are having to contend with escalating competition for traditional markets. Ballooning overcapacity East of Suez, where Asia will add 0.39mn bl/d of capacity in 2022 and Middle Eastern capacity will grow by 0.89mn bl/d year-on-year, means gasoline and diesel will be cheap enough to export to Latin America, the US west coast and West Africa. Gulf Coast diesel will also face stiff competition for a slice of the European market in the coming years. Naphtha remains a bright sp
Also in this section
17 February 2026
The 25th WPC Energy Congress, taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 26–30 April 2026, will bring together leaders from the political, industrial, financial and technology sectors under the unifying theme “Pathways to an Energy Future for All”
17 February 2026
Siemens Energy has been active in the Kingdom for nearly a century, evolving over that time from a project-based foreign supplier to a locally operating multi-national company with its own domestic supply chain and workforce
17 February 2026
Eni’s chief operating officer for global natural resources, Guido Brusco, takes stock of the company’s key achievements over the past year, and what differentiates its strategy from those of its peers in the LNG sector and beyond
16 February 2026
As the third wave of global LNG arrives, Wood Mackenzie’s director for Europe gas and LNG, Tom Marzec-Manser, discusses with Petroleum Economist the outlook for Europe’s gas market in 2026
