Middle East War Triggers New Global Refining Boom
For the second time this decade, a war has upended global oil markets and sent oil prices and refining margins to multi-year highs, benefitting the world’s biggest oil companies and top refiners. The war in Iran has tightened fuel supply as crude oil has struggled to move through the Strait of Hormu
Source: OilPrice.com
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DW NOTE
The Strait of Hormuz has been closed for four months. That doesn't trigger a refining boom — it triggers a bidding war for the 17% of global crude supply that used to pass through it, and a scramble to rewire supply chains that assumed the Gulf would stay open. Refiners don't commission new capacity when input prices are unstable and futures curves are in backwardation. They run flat out on whatever crude they can get.