Atlantic basin inventories send mixed messages

摘要

Product stocks in the US and Europe fell by just 300,000 b/d during the fourth quarter,despite prolonged shutdowns of Gulf coast refining capacity.Product inventories in the Atlantic basin were well up on the previous three years at the end of 2005,with distillate stocks at their highest December level since 1998.Yet crack spreads on gasoline and heating oil are twice as high as this time last year,and refinery utilisation - excluding plants shut by last year's US hurricanes - remains well over 90pc