据石油世界期刊3月5日休斯敦报道，疫情在巴西和墨西哥造成的破坏正使美国炼油商在这两个主要市场对汽油和柴油的需求降温。
1月份，墨西哥汽油消费量降至八个月低点。美国出口的每10桶汽油中有近6桶由墨西哥消费。巴西的柴油销量曾超过疫情前的水平，但后来逐渐下降，目前处于自去年5月以来的最低水平。
墨西哥和巴西的新封锁措施对燃料市场的一个角落来说是一个障碍，直到最近，燃料市场一直是美国炼油商的一个焦点，表明全球恢复正常的预期仍然充满了不确定性。
去年，来自拉丁美洲的需求帮助美国燃料生产商抵御了疫情的影响，因为巴西和墨西哥比其他经济体更快地放松了封锁措施。现在，两国都不得不在疫苗接种缓慢的情况下重新实施限制。
但拉美需求下滑之际，美国墨西哥湾沿岸炼油厂仍在努力重启业务，此前2月第三周，低温迫使许多炼油厂关闭。国内需求的前景也更加光明。
咨询公司伍德麦肯兹（Wood Mackenzie）的分析师Paula Jara表示，去年，美国在燃料需求方面落后于拉丁美洲，由于疫苗接种的加快，美国在第二季度将大幅增长。她预计第二季度美国的汽油需求将比第一季度增加70万桶/日。
由于冷冻，美国炼油厂每天削减了492万桶的石油加工量。随着美国在夏季驾车季节（驾车者上路和汽油销售高峰）到来之前接种疫苗，生产燃料的利润率正在上升。
郝芬 译自 石油世界期刊
原文如下：
Mexico and Brazil fuel demand fizzles out amid renewed virus restrictions
The havoc that the pandemic is wreaking in Brazil and Mexico is cooling demand for gasoline and diesel in two top markets for U.S. oil refiners.
Gasoline consumption in Mexico, which takes almost six in every 10 barrels of gasoline exported by the U.S., slumped to an eight-month low in January. Diesel sales in Brazil, which had surpassed levels seen prior to the pandemic, fizzled out and are at the lowest levels seen since May.
New lockdown measures in Mexico and Brazil are a setback for a corner of the fuel market that had been a bright spot for U.S. refiners until recently, illustrating how the anticipated return to global normality is still full of uncertainties.
Last year, demand from Latin America helped U.S. fuel makers to weather the effects of the pandemic because Brazil and Mexico eased lockdown measures faster than other economies. Now, both countries had to reimpose restrictions amid a slow rollout of vaccinations.
But the decline in Latin American demand is coming as refiners on the U.S. Gulf Coast are still struggling to restart operations after frigid temperatures forced many to shut down in the third week of February. And the outlook for demand at home is now much brighter.
“The U.S., which lagged behind Latin America in terms of fuel demand last year, is set to surge ahead in the second quarter amid a faster vaccination rollout,” said Paula Jara, an analyst at consultancy Wood Mackenzie Ltd. She expects gasoline demand in the U.S. to rise by 700,000 barrels a day in the second quarter, compared with the first.
U.S. refiners curtailed oil processing by 4.92 million barrels a day because of the freeze. Margins to make fuels are rising with U.S. vaccinations ahead of the summer driving season, when motorists take to the roads and gasoline sales peak.
