New York (Platts)--8Apr2009
Falling refined product demand, combined with boosted ethanol use in
gasoline, has reduced the current US need for refining capacity, the Energy
Information Administration said Wednesday.
The situation is expected to continue further into 2009, EIA said in a
report.
Available US refining capacity adjusted for outages appears adequate to
meet projected demand through June, EIA said. "Apart from the effects of the
hurricanes of September 2008, refinery production in 2008 and the first
[three] months of 2009 have been determined by market factors rather than
outage constraints," the agency said.
Potential 2009 US gasoline production from capacity, after adjustments
for outages, is well above actual production in 2008, EIA said. "Given that
demand in 2009 is expected to be lower than that in 2008, adequate production
capacity is available," it said.
Must surplus capacity is in the US Gulf Coast region, while on the East
Coast, which is projected to experience outages of FCCs into April, more
gasoline will need to be brought into the region. Because the East Coast is
"normally dependent" on gasoline imports and product from Gulf Coast
refineries, gaining extra supply from the Gulf Coast should not be a problem,
EIA said.
"However, prices on the East Coast may have to increase somewhat in order
to continue to attract the extra supply," EIA said.
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