UPDATE: Total Executive: Europe, US Gasoline Demand To Fall
14 September 2009 - 7:25PM
Dow Jones News
Gasoline demand in Europe and the U.S. is expected to fall
through to 2020 in the wake of the global economic slowdown, said
an executive of French oil major Total SA (TOT) Monday.
"We are quite convinced at Total that in both regions the
consumption will decrease very sharply until 2015 and 2020," André
Tricoire, senior vice president of refining, said.
Speaking at Platts's European Refining Markets conference in
Brussels, Tricoire said the decline in gasoline demand is one of
the biggest threats to European refiners, who are heavily reliant
on gasoline exports to the U.S.
Climate change legislation, particularly in the U.S., could
further discourage gasoline consumption, he added.
Excess refining capacity is expected to pressure refining
margins in the short and medium term, he added, even though Total
estimates that only 40% of announced new refinery projects will
come online in the coming years.
Earlier this month, Total said it would shut its entire
137,000-barrel-a-day Dunkirk refinery in northern France in
response to weak demand and sluggish refining margins.
Total also halted a crude distillation unit at its
331,000-barrel-a-day Normandy refinery in August due to weak
refining economics.
-By Lananh Nguyen, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20-7842-9479;
lananh.nguyen@dowjones.com (Adam Mitchell in Paris contributed to
this report.)