((Automated translation by Reuters, please see disclaimer https://bit.ly/rtrsauto))
(Corrects title and paragraphs 1 and 2 to indicate capacity increased, not decreased)
U.S. crude oil refining capacity increased 1.5% to 18.38 million barrels per day (bpd) this year, according to a government report released Friday, as another major expansion in Texas increased capacity.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said the figures showed capacity online as of Jan. 1, reflecting for the first time the start last year of an expansion of about 250,000 bpd at Exxon Mobil’s refinery XOM.N in Beaumont, Texas.
Oil processing capacity in early 2024 remained more than 500,000 bpd below the 2019 peak of 18.98 million bpd, which was reached before a wave of plant closures and conversions during the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19.
Refiners turn crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other products.
Marathon Petroleum Corp MPC.N remained the largest U.S. refiner, capable of processing up to 2.95 million bpd, or 16 percent of the country’s total, at its 13 U.S. plants, according to the report. EIA.
Valero Energy Corp (VLO.N) is the second largest U.S. refiner by volume, with capacity of 2.21 million bpd, or about 12% of the total.
Exxon was third with nearly 1.95 million bpd after a $2 billion expansion of its Beaumont refinery came online in spring 2023, increasing that facility’s processing capacity to 609,000 bpd.
