@crk5
Great read: piece by the Australian fuel trader - thx for sharing. It’s not at all the simple situation we might think (or like to think… or wish!). Worse for diesel but I’m reading pretty diabolical for jet fuel in one of the further pieces he recommended [https://fvr07.substack.com/p/the-500b-disruption-from-lng-to-jet
By Fabian Vera] including this quick knowledge upgrade on the laws of physics:

“Refineries are not simple on-off machines. Operating at very low throughput or shutting down abruptly under feedstock starvation creates serious risks: thermal stress and coking in distillation units, catalyst deactivation in hydrocrackers and hydrotreaters, corrosion and erosion from uneven operations, and mechanical failure in pumps, valves, and vacuum systems. Restarting complex units like fluid catalytic crackers, central to maximizing jet fuel yields, requires days to weeks of careful commissioning and costs millions. Prolonged idling can result in permanent derating of capacity, not merely temporary offline status.

“Unfortunately the law of physics steps in. Pumps and pipes are sized for a minimum hydraulic flow. And we are talking about hundreds of pumps and thousands of pipelines in a single refinery. So refineries can only likely run to minimum 60% of their nameplate capacity, otherwise it is 0%. For more discussion on this topic, I gladly recommend June Goh from Sparta Commodities.”

#jetFuel #diesel #fuelTrading #fuelPricing #straitOfHurmoz #fossilFuel #fuelReserves #oilRefining #slowToSave #refineryInfrastructure #infrastructure