Crude oil distillation capacity up slightly in 2017
The operable atmospheric crude distillation capacity totaled 18.6 million barrels per calendar day as of Jan. 1, 2018, according to the Energy Information Administration, up 0.1 percent from the previous year.
Further, according to EIA’s annual Refinery Capacity report, annual operable crude oil distillation unit (CDU) capacity had increased slightly in each of the five years prior to 2018.
Barrels per calendar day reflects the input that a distillation unit can process in a 24-hour period under usual operating conditions.
The report also found that the number of operating refineries decreased from 141 on Jan. 1, 2017, to 135 on Jan. 1, 2018. This is primarily due to classification changes in EIA’s survey as four refineries were merged into two, and two refineries were reclassified from idle to shut down.
U.S. crude oil production averaged 9.4 million barrels per day in 2017, an increase of 4.0 million b/d from 2009. Also, gross crude oil inputs to refineries averaged 16.6 million b/d in 2017 compared to 14.3 million b/d in 2009. In that time, operable refinery crude distillation capacity increased 945,000 b/cd, and utilization rose from 83 percent in 2009 to 91 percent in 2017. Further, U.S. crude oil imports decreased by 1.1 million b/d, while U.S. crude oil exports increased by 1.1 million b/d.
