Some interesting oil industry statistics - refining & transportation

Index US imports - from where? US imports - volume US exports Largest exporters Largest importers Iraq By company

Costs Largest refiners US Capacity Capacity by state Product imports Market share Transportation

Leading countries US Production Leading US States Largest world oil fields Largest US oil fields Largest world gas fields US Production Peak Production Peak Number of wells US - Wells drilled/producing US - shut-in wells

How many gallons? How much gasoline? How much plastic? Production costs Finding costs US Gov't profits Uses of oil

US - oil US - gasoline World Changes By sector US vs China

World US US - Bakken US - shut-in wells Peak Oil Drill Baby Drill Largest world oil fields Largest US oil fields Largest world gas fields

Largest that don't use imported oil Profits Seven Sisters

Who sets the price? Price history Factors Why so high? Gasoline price breakdown Historic change in pricing basis

How much in a barrel? Retailer Profits No. of stations US Price breakdown Sales per station No Middle East oil Price in other countries

Producers Importers Companies Oil Fields Gas Fields Reserves Profits

Exports to Japan ANWR

Drill Baby Drill Salvation in Canada? US - Bakken Essay

Made of dinosaurs? Why so much in the Mid East? Who owns it? Abiotic oil

Miscellaneous Myths Alternatives

Finding costs Hot areas Bakken Time to bring onstream

How many gallons in a barrel? How much gasoline from a barrel? Where to buy gas not from Mid East? Who sets the price of oil? Why does Alaska export oil to Japan?

By Richard Gibson:
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Page index: Refinery profit margins • Refineries • Refineries by state

Refinery profits

Refinery profit margins are highly sensitive to both the price of oil (their buying price) and the price of gasoline and other products (their selling price). While the prices of products are closely related to the price of the oil that is used to create them, it is not always a straight-line relationship.

The following links provide evidence that refiner profits have ranged from as much as $33 per barrel to as low as a loss of $10 per barrel within a two-year period (2007-2008). Overall, the long-term average profit for refining companies in the US is about $6.32 per barrel (15¢ per gallon of product; 42 gallons per barrel).

$5.03 per barrel (Gulf Coast, March 2004)

$12.45 per barrel May 2008

Long term average = $6.32 per barrel • Dec 2008 US = -$6.70 per barrel (loss)

May 2008 (CA) 19¢/gal = $7.98/bbl

May 2007 = $33 per barrel; Nov 2008 = negative (loss) $10/bbl

Oil Refineries

In 2003 the four largest U.S. refining companies controlled a little more than 40 percent of the nation’s refining capacity. In contrast, the top four companies in the auto manufacturing, brewing, tobacco, floor coverings and breakfast cereals industries controlled between 80 percent and 90 percent of the market. [Source]

OIL REFINING QUIZ

What company is the largest oil refiner in the US?

The following information on active oil refineries comes from the Energy Information Administration. Total in the US is 149 refineries. For more specifics, such as refinery owner and capacity of individual refineries, go to This Page, click on a state, and then click on "petroleum overview" on the state page. The list is in order of total capacity in 2005. States not listed, such as New York, Florida, and Arizona, do not have any refineries. EIA Information on individual refineries.

US total refining capacity = 17,125,000 barrels of oil per day. Of this, 19.5 gallons per barrel, or about 44% (the most that can be made) becomes gasoline: 7,535,000 barrels of gasoline, times 42 gallons per barrel = 316,470,000 gallons of gasoline capable of being refined each day. Although most refineries are operating at near capacity (say 95% to 98% of capacity), any shutdown (hurricane or otherwise) obviously affects this total. In March 2005, US gasoline consumption was 320,500,000 gallons per day. You do the math.

UPDATE: According to this EIA page, US gasoline consumption in 2004 averaged 382,400,000 gallons per day - meaning we must import almost 66 million gallons of gasoline each and every day, in addition to imported crude oil.

STATE	Number of Refineries	Capacity, barrels per day, 2005
Texas	23	4,628,000
Louisiana	17	2,773,000
California	21	2,005,000
Illinois	4	896,000
Pennsylvania	5	770,000
Washington	5	616,150
New Jersey	4	615,000
Ohio	4	551,400
Oklahoma	5	484,961
10. Indiana	2	433,000
Alaska	6	373,000
Mississippi	4	364,800
Minnesota	2	335,000
Kansas	3	296,200
Kentucky	2	227,500
Montana	4	181,200
Tennessee	1	180,000
Delaware	1	175,000
Utah	5	167,350
20. Wyoming	5	152,000
Hawaii	2	147,500
Alabama	2	113,500
New Mexico	3	112,600
Colorado	2	87,000
Arkansas	2	76,800
Michigan	1	74,000
Virginia	1	58,600
North Dakota	1	58,000
Wisconsin	1	33,000
30. West Virginia	1	19,400
Nevada	1	1,707

Compiled by Dick Gibson, Gibson Consulting, 301 N. Crystal St., Butte, MT 59701

Want to know more?
Gibson Consulting recommends: Read The Prize, by Daniel Yergin.