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Not only have product prices lagged those of crude during the selloff - as is common in a downturn - but they have raced ahead of them in the rebound, keeping refining margins remarkably firm, and supporting unexpectedly strong throughputs in once-depressed refining centres such as Europe and OECD Asia, product demand has shown signs of life, with even European demand emerging from a secular decline to show strong growth of 3.2 percent in December and 0.9 percent in January.