Developments in EU refining: looking ahead to 2020 and beyond

Developments in EU refining: looking ahead to 2020 and beyond Oil refineries are constantly adapting to changes in product quality legislation and market demand. This requires the industry to be aware of such changes and anticipate them. Awareness of product quality legislation changes is generally straightforward, since they require that new product quality specifications be met by target dates.

Predicting product demand changes is more complex, as these depend on only a few invariable factors, such as legislative targets for vehicle efficiency, and a myriad of much less predictable factors, such as economic growth and consumer preference for diesel or gasoline vehicles. A further complicating factor in the demand picture in recent years is the introduction of biofuels, which displace a portion of the products produced by refineries from crude oil (i.e. ‘refined products’).