CERA: Global Products to Remain Tight Through 2007

Oil & Gas Journal – Disruptions to supplies of gasoline, diesel fuel, and light products, associated in part with changes in fuel quality standards, will keep oil markets tight and prices high during the next 2 years, Cambridge Energy Research Associates forecast in a report issued June 6.

“Incremental additions to refining capacity over the next 2 years [will] be insufficient to meet new global demand,” it predicts.

For the short term, CERA expects the US industry to use “innovative” methods this summer to overcome logistical hurdles involving the switch to ethanol from methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) in gasoline. More than 10% of gasoline volumes in some areas are affected.
Oil & Gas Journal