IEA: Refinery Runs In 3Q Up 200,000 B/D From Previous Year
08/10/2012| 04:46am US/Eastern
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LONDON--Global refinery runs are set to rise in the third quarter to 75.5 million barrels a day to meet peak summer fuel demand, up 200,000 barrels a day from a year earlier, the International Energy Agency said in its monthly oil market report Friday.
Refinery runs overall have been relatively healthy so far this year and are likely to continue to rise in August to a seasonal peak of 76.1 million barrels a day, the IEA said. In China, however, the outlook is pessimistic.
The IEA said weakness in China's refinery runs, due to high inventories there and faltering domestic demand, caused it to revise lower its prediction for third-quarter refinery runs by 300,000 barrels a day. In addition, there are unscheduled refinery outages in the U.S. and Japan. Still, the IEA expects China's crude intake to increase in the coming months, just at a slower pace than previously expected.
The annual growth in global refinery runs continues to stem from developing countries, with two-thirds of growth in the second quarter from non-Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries. Russia and India, in particular, reported high crude intake, the IEA said.
In the U.S., product exports have been key to supporting runs. In the January?May period of this year, U.S. exports have surged almost 400,000 barrels a day year?on?year, mostly targeting Latin America and Europe, the IEA said.
West Coast crude runs, however, are expected to decline from current levels in August after a fire at Chevron Corp.'s (>> Chevron Corporation) 245,000 barrel-a-day refinery, which could force the plant to shut for several months.
In Europe, regional runs should rise seasonally in August, though in the U.K., they will drop. The shutdown of the Petroplus Coryton refinery, which had a capacity of 220,000 barrels a day, will lower available capacity in the coming months, the IEA said.
Write to Jenny Gross at jenny.gross@dowjones.com, Twitter: @jgginlondon
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