Expanding Australia oil demand enticing operators and traders

The closure of numerous oil refineries in Australia is promising big opportunities for products-tanker operators and oil traders looking to get into a market that, until very recently, was tightly guarded by a handful of oil majors.

Just under a decade ago, the eight oil refineries operated by the likes of Shell, BP, Caltex and ExxonMobil produced enough refined fuel to cover 95% of Australia’s consumption needs, thus leaving a mere 5% of fuel — which equated to less than 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) — to be sourced from elsewhere.

REFINERY