Will the pandemic also claim refinery victims?

Alan Gelder, Vice President of Refining, Chemicals & Oil Markets joins the Al-Attiyah Foundation in this podcast interview, to delve into the challenges faced by the refining sector.

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused a well documented reduction in demand for crude oil. However, what is less spoken about is how that reduction affects the broader value chain.

Practically all crude oil is refined into final products for consumers, and the demands for final products such as gasoline, kerosene, gas oils, and diesel have been differently affected by the pandemic. This has caused numerous challenges for all refiners, and while most refiners have some flexibility as to what the mix of products they produce, they are not immune to the reduction in overall demand levels.

How will refiners, therefore, cope with the large changes in demand? Will some refiners collapse soon, or at all? And how will they manage in the long term as the world evolves to “a new normal”?

If you have any issues viewing the interview, you can play it here.