European refiners have seen their energy costs drop alongside the fall in oil prices, which has boosted their competitive position compared to North and South America, but Europe is still lagging in lowering energy costs compared to refineries on the other side of the Atlantic. Before the oil price crash of 2014, refineries in Europe had much higher costs than those in the Americas, as high oil prices usually widen refinery costs differences between regions, Stephen Wright, vice president at Solomon Associates, said at the World Refining Association conference in Athens this week. “High crude price is a big disadvantage” for European refiners, Wright said at the conference, as carried by Platts . Nevertheless, energy costs are still a huge part of Europe’s refinery costs—at some 50 percent of refinery costs, compared to 28 percent in North American and South American refineries. Europe has been pushing utilization rates up […]