Record stockpiles eroding Asian refiners' profits

Singapore

AFTER relishing a cocktail of cheap crude mixed with profits from fuel sales, Asia's oil processors are facing their reckoning over a lack of restraint.

Profits from turning crude into fuel in Asia since the beginning of April have averaged almost a third lower than levels over the previous six months, and are down 40 per cent from the same period a year earlier. That's already prompted some refiners in South Korea to cut processing rates, with industry consultant IHS Inc saying the reductions may be a harbinger of wider decreases across the region.