Gerard Burg Capacity Quotations

We've still got a capacity squeeze from that area. Demand has been very strong short-term and we expect it will be strong next year.

This is really much more important than OPEC supply as their spare capacity is largely heavy and sour and the real shortage is capacity to upgrade such fuels anyway.

You've got to wonder, where would it go? There's no spare refining capacity to refine it and we're starting to run out of places to store it. Crude stocks are swelled and there's little demand for that additional supply.

That area is solid with refining capacity. There's an element of panic in the market but that's not surprising given the lack of capacity worldwide at every level, refineries and oil wells.

Prices are expected to ease in 2007 as expanding refinery capacity reduces some of the bottleneck in that sector. However, the likely strength of oil demand, as well as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' intention to support higher prices will maintain crude oil prices at historically high levels.

With refineries ramping up at maximum capacity and with the weather having been warmer than usual over the past two weeks, the build was not that much of a surprise.