What’s the mid-term outlook for the refining sector after coronavirus?

Coronavirus has had a huge negative impact on the global economy and on oil product demand growth in 2020. Although our base case forecast shows demand recovering strongly from 2021 we have lost a year of demand growth. For a refining industry which was already facing a period of overcapacity through the first part of this decade, the impact of the epidemic will prove very challenging. In this insight we provide a preliminary assessment of the implications of coronavirus for the global refining sector over the next five years, including it's potential impact on average refinery operating rates and refining margins. Our full analysis of the outlook for global and regional oil products market will be published later this month.