US capacity growth adds one 'medium-sized' refinery annually: EIA

Washington (Platts)--14Jul2004

Despite the fact that no significant grassroots refinery has been built in the
US since 1976, US refinery capacity has increased 1.9-mil b/d over the last 10
years, equivalent to the addition of one medium-sized refinery annually,
according to the US Energy Information Administration's This Week in Petroleum
report, released Wednesday. For the one-year period ending Jan 1, 2004,
capacity increased 137,000 b/d, again adding the equivalent of another
medium-sized refinery, the report said. The industry reached its peak in 1981,
with 324 operable refineries, total distillation capacity of 18.6-mil b/d, and
an average utilization rate of 69%, EIA reported. By the mid-1990s, capacity
had decreased to 15-mil b/d, the lowest point since 1981, and the utilization
rate had risen to 92.6%, added EIA.

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