Refiners pin hopes on summer bonanza

摘要

US refiners harried by hurricanes, arctic storms and the Covid-19 pandemic are hoping that consumers return to the roads for a fuel-guzzling summer. Refiners have been raising throughput rates closer to pre-pandemic levels to supply gasoline and jet fuel to travellers escaping a cloistered 2020. "Because people have felt trapped in their home for a year now, they will spend more of their discretionary income on experiences like vacations, rather than things," Valero chief commercial officer Gary Simmons says. "Everything domestically on the gasoline front looks good."