Yield Loss (Refining)

Refining yield loss is the drop in saleable product per barrel of crude when a refinery makes a tighter-specification fuel, such as the extra hydrogen, energy, and conversion needed to produce 0.50 percent VLSFO or 0.10 percent ULSFO for MARPOL Annex VI Regulation 14 compliance. Desulfurization (hydrotreating) and the diversion of cutter stocks and distillate to dilute residual sulfur both consume volume and capacity that would otherwise yield higher-value product, so low-sulfur marine grades carry a structural cost premium over high-sulfur fuel oil. The size of that premium, the VLSFO-to-HSFO spread, drives the payback economics of scrubbers versus burning compliant fuel.