Surviving Whammies

US refiners are being forced to deal with dismal margins brought about by a lack of demand for their prime products – gasoline and diesel. Consumption of gasoline is roughly 7 percent less than the go‐go days of mid‐2007 – and once the growth in ethanol use is considered, the need for refiners’ hydrocarbon component has contracted even more. Diesel use has evaporated by some one million barrels per day (mbd) or over 20 percent from its highs of late 2007.