London—With distillate cracks having risen over the past month and gasoline still strong, European refineries may look to delay scheduled autumn maintenance programs until January, where possible, at least as long as crude prices remain in the doldrums. “European refiners are not flexible with their maintenance programs. You have to book [contractors] 6-8 months forward,” one trader said. “Some refineries have their own maintenance crews and have the flexibility to do it when they want, but that is maybe only about 5%.”
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