The Impact of the French Refinery Strike

Page tags

The Impact of the French Refinery Strike

» A Barrel Full Oil & Gas Wiki » A Barrel Full Blog » The Impact of the French Refinery Strike

abarrelfull wrote on 28 Oct 2010 05:34
Tags:

Latest Blogs

It is an ill wind that doesn't blow someone some good, and so it is with the French Refinery Strike. As the workers in three refineries vote to return to work and the focus is on the losses to the French economy, its useful to remember that not everyone has lost out.

In comparison to the third quarter, refining margins in the Mediterranean are up in the fourth quarter, from 2.7 to 4.22 dollars a barrel.

France has 12 refineries with about 1.8 Million barrels per day of refining capacity. This is only about 2% of the global total, but the impact of the loss of this production has been significant. Although the return to work at Exxon's two refinieries and at one of Petroplus's is a move forward, it will take some time for the effected plants to get back to normal. Meanwhile there is more bad news from Petrolplus concerning the Reichstett Refinery .

Petroplus has today informed the Work Council of the Reichstett refinery that it intends to commence a formal information and consultation process to propose terms for a project to cease refining operations and convert the site to a terminal.

Not really a surprise but another indication of the state of the market.

The good news is that with stocks lower, and better margins all round, the 4th quarter could be a good one for the sector.