Companies may shut as many as 10 Oil Refineries Worldwide over Weak

    Demand and Low Profits from Processing - Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.
    Shutdowns would represent about 1.4 percent of the global refining capacity, London-based Bernstein analysts Neil McMahon and Alexander Inkster said yesterday in an e-mailed report.
    The closures will tighten the fuel market by 2012, while a supply reduction may be partly offset by additional capacity due to come on stream in Saudi Arabia and West Africa, they said.
    Gasoline for September delivery dropped 5.27 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $1.98 a gallon on the Nymex.
    US refineries operated at 84 percent of capacity last week, up 0.5 percentage point from the prior week, the Energy Department said. It was the first increase in five weeks. The rate is down 2 percent from a year earlier according to bloomberg.com.