“La sabiduría de la vida consiste en la eliminación de lo no esencial. En reducir los problemas de la filosofía a unos pocos solamente: el goce del hogar, de la vida, de la naturaleza, de la cultura”.
Lin Yutang
Cervantes
Hoy es el día más hermoso de nuestra vida, querido Sancho; los obstáculos más grandes, nuestras propias indecisiones; nuestro enemigo más fuerte, el miedo al poderoso y a nosotros mismos; la cosa más fácil, equivocarnos; la más destructiva, la mentira y el egoísmo; la peor derrota, el desaliento; los defectos más peligrosos, la soberbia y el rencor; las sensaciones más gratas, la buena conciencia, el esfuerzo para ser mejores sin ser perfectos, y sobretodo, la disposición para hacer el bien y combatir la injusticia dondequiera que esté.
As
earnings season gets into full swing, a casual glance at the
fundamentals shows there is little for refiners to be excited about.
Excessive production in the first half on the back of wider margins has
resulted in a glut of refined product that is now coming back to bite.
Whatever numbers are issued, it is likely to be all downhill from here.
"East coast gasoline stockpiles have grown substantially in the past six
months due to the oversupply in the market and imports from Europe,"
said Bloomberg Intelligence Analyst Gurpal Dosanjh. "This oversupply
will likely weigh on Atlantic Basin refining margins for the remainder
of 2016, leading to run-cuts after summer."
The U.S. Is Swimming in Gas...
European
gasoline stockpiles have soared. They are currently at 1.35 million
metric tonnes, about 40 percent above the five-year average.
...And So Is Europe
Refiners
have only themselves to blame. For the last few years U.S. refiners
have been increasing their capacity to turn the cheap, light crude being
produced from the country's shale plays into refined product. Coupled
with attractive margins meant that capacity has risen to 18.3 million
barrels a day. Problem is, increased capacity puts pressure on gasoline
margins.
Capacity Expansion
So
it's not expected to get much better. Gasoline crack spreads for the
East Coast and Gulf Coast refiners are likely to drop in the second half
compared to a year earlier, said Dosanjh. Despite an increase in
demand, an extra 459,000 barrels a day of capacity will "crimp" refining
margins, Dosanjh said.
