LONDON, March 14 (Reuters) -
* Royal Dutch Shell saw a year-on-year fall inrefiningand petrochemical margins across the key refining regions ofEurope, Singapore and the United States, the oil major said inits 2018 annual report.
* Rotterdam average gross refining margins were down over 40percent at $2.5/bbl. Singapore margins fell over 60 percentwhile U.S. Gulf Coast coking margins were down nearly 30percent.
* Shell said slowing oil product demand growth in line withglobaleconomic growth, higher crude prices and refinery capacityadditions in the Middle East and Asia contributed to the fall.
* "Looking forward, we believe refinery margins may beimpacted bythe introduction of the new International Maritime Organizationshipping fuel specification in 2020," the report said.
* Shell said Asian naphtha cracker margins fell sharply inQ4 2018on concerns over the potential impact of U.S. tariffs. U.S.ethane cracker margins were pressured by new capacity additions.But in Europe, demand was healthy and naphtha cracker margins inthe region decreased the least in 2018.
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(Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar; Editing by Mark Potter)
