Tide turns for middle distillates
Strong prices for middle distillates might persist due to a range of supply and demand factors
Dated Brent reached $100/bl in mid-February, exposing refiners to a new set of challenges for the year ahead, including crude procurement, managing high operating costs—due to high natural gas and carbon prices—and the need to address growing product demand. At the same time, jet fuel margins show strong signs of recovery and gasoil/diesel balances appear set to tighten even further. The key themes in product markets last year were the strength of gasoline and refiners opting to blend surplus jet fuel into the diesel pool, while 2022 has ushered in a new set of challenges and opportunities for refiners. The most notable of these has been the rally in middle distillates. Several factors have

Also in this section
13 February 2025
New supply from Argentina, Brazil and Guyana is rich in middle distillates, but optimism in terms of volume growth remains tempered by regulatory and technical risks as well as price volatility
12 February 2025
The oilfield expansion provides a fresh influx of revenue but will strain its cooperation with OPEC+ and fails to mask deeper issues with the economy and investors
11 February 2025
Improving compliance among the group and wider group is offset by production increases in outliers Libya, Venezuela and Iran
10 February 2025
The country wants to kickstart its upstream but first needs to persuade investors to foot the bill