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Spain s largest refiner Repsol said it sees refining margins widening in the remainder of the year amid a pickup in activity after the country s state of alert ended May 9. The refining margin is seen averaging $2/b for the full year, rising from 20 cents/b in Q1 and around $1.20/b in April. The company said it made a premium of 60 cents/b over benchmark in Q1 but did not make a forecast for a premium going forward. Its Spanish refinery utilization rate was 76.3% in Q1, down from 82.4% in Q1 2020 but higher than a 73.7% rate in fourth-quarter 2020. The company has reacted by closing a portion of its capacity through 2020 and 2021, taking its Spanish conversion rate down to 81.6% in Q1 from 100.4% in Q1 2020. Repsol also changed some of its contracted positions from a CIF basis to an FOB basis, which has also depressed margins. But while three refineries have tempora
REFINERY NEWS ROUNDUP: European companies report lower 2020 runs, margins
European companies have been reporting lower throughput and margins for 2020 as a result of the pandemic.
Spain-based integrated energy group Cepsa’s refinery throughput decreased 10% in 2020 at 19.3 million mt (387,000 b/d), or a 78% utilization rate, the company said. This contraction was accompanied by a 42% narrowing of the refining margin to $2.50/b, although this full-year average was much better than a decade-long low in the third quarter 2020 of 50 cents/b. Sales volume of refined products was resilient, dropping just 4% in the full year at 14.8 million mt, partly buoyed by chemical and asphalt sales.
REFINERY NEWS ROUNDUP: Companies report lower throughput in Europe
Oil companies in Europe have reported lower throughput in the fourth quarter and 2020 as a whole, with many refineries continuing with run cuts in the first quarter of 2021. All units at Total’s Grandpuits refinery in central France are now fully offline as a result of a strike called by staff to protest against job losses resulting from the conversion of the refinery into a biorefinery, a union source said. Total halted the crude distillation unit at Grandpuits Nov. 16 but the other units at the site had remained in operation. All units are now halted and product deliveries have also stopped, while work to prepare the conversion of the refinery has also been halted. Strikes started in October at the site.
REFINERY NEWS ROUNDUP: Some maintenance ends in Europe, TAL shipments resume
Some maintenance has finished in Europe with refineries restarting but temporary closures remain in force at a number of plants, both full and partial.
The International Energy Agency expects improved oil products demand next year to result in 500,000 b/d higher throughput at European refiners after a 1.5 million b/d decline in 2020, with runs expected to remain below Q3 2020 levels until Q3 2021.
Separately, the Trans-Alpine pipeline (TAL), which ships crude oil from the Italian port of Trieste to refineries in Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic, resumed operations the morning of Dec. 11 after problems due to heavy snow in the Alps through which it runs, according to sources. The pipeline had stopped shipping crude as power supply to a pumping station in Austria was cut, Germany’s Bild newspaper reported. Miro, whose refinery in Karlsruhe is one of those that receives crude via TAL, said that foll