Oil products glut feared as refiners step on the gas

London

AS crude prices stabilised in recent weeks following their collapse last year, one of the key reasons analysts pointed to was bargain-hunting by oil refiners.

Don't expect it to last.

Global refining has surged so much - it rose the most since 2010 in the fourth quarter - that it risks creating a glut of fuel products that prompts operators to scale back their purchases of crude, according to firms including Morgan Stanley and Wood Mackenzie. That, in turn, could start pushing oil prices back down, they say.

"Refiners may run very hard ove…