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 percent 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. Amid the biggest drop in crude prices in a generation and surging demand for gasoline , refiners across Asia boosted operations as they sought to cash in on strong profit margins, according to industry consultant FGE. But as oil rebounded this year and growth in fuel consumption lagged behind the increase in output, the surplus has […]