Transport fuel demand rising

Transport fuel demand rising

SINGAPORE (AFP): Asia-Pacific demand for transport fuels is expected to grow by up to five percent a year until the end of the decade, the president of Singapore Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (SPC) said yesterday.

Regional demand was rising due to surging consumption in countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, China and India where demand for petroleum transport products could grow by 10-15 percent a year in the run-up to 2000, Cheng Hong Kok said.

Cheng, who is also chief executive of SPC, was speaking to reporters on the eve of the official inauguration of a residue catalytic cracker complex run by its subsidiary, the Singapore Refining Co. Pte. Ltd. (SRC)

SRC is a joint venture between SPC, British Petroleum and Caltex who have together invested S$1.4 billion (US$1 billion) in the cracker.

The complex will upgrade 33,000 barrels per day of low-value, heavy residue into high-value motor gasoline.

Cheng predicted that oil refining margins could improve in the long term after an expected dip later this year when new capacity comes on stream in Thailand and South Korea.