⁍ Pandemic travel restrictions have hurt fuel demand and spurred companies to cut costs or merge.

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⁍ Since the pandemic started, at least 4 different crude oil refineries have been idled or closed in North America.

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⁍ With infections surging again, consumption of gasoline and diesel could remain weak, hurting refinery profits.

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– Canadian oil company Cenovus Energy has agreed to buy Husky Energy in a $2.8 billion deal that will create the third-largest refinery in the US, the AP reports. The deal announced Sunday will give Cenovus an additional 350,000 barrels per day of total refining capacity in the Midwest. The region’s refineries can process more than 4 million bpd, the second-most of five US regions behind only the Gulf Coast, but analysts questioned the rationale for the deal. “There’s a lot of refining in the Midwest … but I don’t think there are wonderful growth prospects for any of the Great Lakes states,” Tom Kloza, founder of the Oil Price Information Service, tells Reuters. The merger of Canadian oil companies Cenovus Energy and Husky Energy will create a formidable refining presence in the Midwestern United States, but it comes at a time when weak demand has left that market oversupplied, squeezing margins. Since the pandemic started, at least four different crude oil refineries have been idled or closed in North America. The company’s combined 660,000 bpd of North American refining capacity is expected to more than match Cenovus’ Alberta heavy oil production, but the supply of heavy crude still outweighs demand in the region.