U.S. oil refiners temper optimism as margins jump, stocks fall | Reuters

U.S. oil refiners temper optimism as margins jump, stocks fall | Reuters:

"U.S. oil refiners may be on their best footing in more than half a year, after a bumper drawdown in gasoline inventories spurred the biggest boost to profit margins in months and fueled hopes of resurgent demand ahead of the summer driving season.

But executives at some of the top U.S. independent refiners and analysts are tempering any early optimism that times will be as good as last year as oversupply and slower economic growth threaten to dent margins well into 2017.

"If you are watching your production not going to the consumer, but instead going into a (storage) tank, you have to rethink the economics," said Tom Nimbley, chief executive of PBF Energy, a large independent U.S. refiner, on the sidelines of the 114th annual meeting of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers association in San Francisco."



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