World Has Plenty of Oil Refining Capacity – BP

(Reuters) – There is no shortage of oil refining capacity in the world but there are constraints in the ability of refineries to process heavy crudes, Britain’s BP Plc said on Wednesday. The world’s second-largest Western oil company by market capitalisation said that if only a fraction of planned new refining projects proceed, global capacity will continue to be be sufficient to match growing demand for oil products.

“We have plenty of capacity not just for today but also for tomorrow,” Chief Executive John Browne said at the launch of BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy.

Politicians in the United States and in Europe partly blamed a shortage of refining capacity last year when crude prices hit record highs after hurricanes forced the closure of Gulf of Mexico plants.
Reuters UK