Oil refiners in U.S. at full throttle with margins under threat

[thackney]

Oil refiners in U.S. at full throttle with margins under threat
https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Oil-Refiners-in-U-S-at-Full-Throttle-With-13044453.php
July 2, 2018

U.S. refiners have returned from maintenance with a vengeance, processing more than 18 million barrels a day of crude and other oils for the first time in the week ended June 22. What does that mean for the markets?

Gasoline stockpiles have increased 2.9 percent in June, the biggest gain for the month since 2009. There’s enough supply to cover 25.4 days of demand, almost a full day above the five-year average.

The record runs are squeezing the once-mighty profit margins for refiners. The Nymex gasoline crack spread, a rough measure for how much refiners make from producing the motor fuel, sank more than 30 percent in June, the biggest drop for the month in a decade, helped by a tightening WTI-Brent spread.....

[thackney]

Updated: Monthly | Last Updated: 05/31/2018

nergy & Financial Markets
WHAT DRIVES PETROLEUM PRODUCT PRICES?
https://www.eia.gov/finance/markets/products/prices.php

A crack spread measures the difference between the purchase price of crude oil and the selling price of finished products, such as gasoline and distillate fuel, that a refinery produces from the crude oil. Crack spreads are an indicator of the short-term profit margin of oil refineries because they compare the cost of the crude oil inputs to the wholesale, or spot, prices of the outputs (although they do not include other variable costs or any fixed costs).

https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/includes/crackspread_explain.php

[WingNot]

Those refiners may be losing money per gallon but they are making it up on the increased volume!