Citgo Petroleum’s 167,000 bbl/d Corpus Christi, Texas, refinery produces a versatile product mix spanning from liquid petroleum gas and premium gasoline to ultra-low sulfur diesel. (Source: Citgo)
U.S. refinery utilization rates will stay slightly above the 90% mark in 2023 through 2024, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
U.S. utilization rates are forecasted to average 90.8% in 2023 and 90.3% in 2024, the U.S.-based agency said Feb. 13 in a statement on its website. Utilization rates exceeded 91% in 2022, it said.
The agency said the U.S. was returning to more typical refinery utilization rates after seeing two years of low rates in 2020 and 2021.
The wavering utilization rates in the U.S. come amid an international backdrop of a continuing Russia-Ukraine conflict, which officially reached a one-year mark this February, a global economic slowdown prompted in great part by reduced energy flows from sanctioned Russia, and China’s economy re-opening after enforcing strict COVID-19 lockdowns.
RELATED
US Product Export Ban: A Panacea for High Fuel Prices?
China’s COVID Pivot Boosts Oil, Gas, LNG Demand
“In 2020, average refinery utilization dropped to 78.8%, the lowest annual rate since we began collecting this data in 1997, but by 2022, utilization rates averaged closer to pre-pandemic levels at more than 91%,” the EIA said. “On an annual average basis, fleet-wide refinery utilization rarely climbs much higher than 95% because of maintenance periods and seasonal periods of less demand.”
The EIA forecasts low utilization rates in the spring will limit production ahead of summer, traditionally a high-driving season across the U.S. amid grade school and university vacations, encouraging refineries to keep up high utilization rates when not undergoing maintenance activities.
The EIA forecasts gasoline and diesel prices to be lower in 2023 compared to 2022, albeit higher compared to pre-pandemic levels, and especially during the spring maintenance period.
Global refinery throughputs down
Globally, refinery throughputs fell 730,000 bbl/d in January, with U.S. activity still recovering from outages that occurred during the Arctic freeze, the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) said in the February edition of its Oil Market Report.
Scheduled maintenance this month will drive global throughputs lower, the IEA warned.
“Despite mild weather in Europe and a seasonal slowdown in road demand, product cracks rallied on supply concerns in the U.S. and ahead of the EU embargo on Russian products coming into force,” the French agency said.
Recommended Reading
Nigeria Halts Shell Asset Sale, Approves Exxon-Seplat Deal
2024-10-21 - Nigeria blocked Shell's sale of its entire onshore and shallow-water oil operations.
Norway's Massive Johan Sverdrup Oilfield Shut by Power Outage
2024-11-18 - Norway's Equinor has halted output from its Johan Sverdrup oilfield, western Europe's largest, due to an onshore power outage, the company said on Nov. 18.
Encino’s Tim Parker: Plenty of Utica Oil—and Takeaway Too
2024-11-15 - Encino Energy's Tim Parker tells Hart Energy's Nissa Darbonne about the economics of drilling in the company's Utica oil development at the DUG Appalachia Conference and Expo.
US Drillers Cut Oil, Gas Rigs for Fourth Week in a Row
2024-09-06 - The oil and gas rig count fell by one to 582 in the week to Sept. 6, the lowest since June.
E&P Highlights: Oct. 14, 2024
2024-10-14 - Here’s a roundup of the latest E&P headlines, including another delay at one of the largest gas fields in the world and two major contracts in West Africa.
Comments
Add new comment
This conversation is moderated according to Hart Energy community rules. Please read the rules before joining the discussion. If you’re experiencing any technical problems, please contact our customer care team.