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Total Energy

Annual Energy Review

September 2012  PDF | previous editions
Release Date: September 27, 2012

Table 5.9 Refinery Capacity and Utilization, 1949-2011
Table 5.9  Refinery Capacity and Utilization, 1949-2011




Year

Operable
Refineries 1
Operable Refineries Capacity
Gross Input
to Distillation Units 3


Utilization 4
On January 1 Annual Average 2
Number Thousand Barrels per Calendar Day  Thousand Barrels per Day Percent
1949 336 6,231 NA 5,556 89.2
1950 320 6,223 NA 5,980 92.5
1951 325 6,702 NA 6,760 97.5
1952 327 7,161 NA 6,929 93.8
1953 315 7,620 NA 7,263 93.1
1954 308 7,984 NA 7,266 88.8
1955 296 8,386 NA 7,820 92.2
1956 317 8,583 NA 8,250 93.5
1957 317 9,072 NA 8,222 89.2
1958 315 9,358 NA 8,024 83.9
1959 313 9,761 NA 8,356 85.2
1960 309 9,843 NA 8,439 85.1
1961 309 9,999 NA 8,571 85.7
1962 309 10,015 NA 8,830 88.2
1963 304 10,011 NA 9,144 90.0
1964 298 10,306 NA 9,283 89.6
1965 293 10,420 NA 9,557 91.8
1966 280 10,394 NA 9,990 94.9
1967 276 10,658 NA 10,391 94.4
1968 282 11,353 NA 10,894 94.5
1969 279 11,702 NA 11,249 94.8
1970 276 12,021 NA 11,517 92.6
1971 272 12,860 NA 11,881 90.9
1972 274 13,292 NA 12,431 92.3
1973 268 13,642 NA 13,151 93.9
1974 273 14,362 NA 12,689 86.6
1975 279 14,961 NA 12,902 85.5
1976 276 15,237 NA 13,884 87.8
1977 282 16,398 NA 14,982 89.6
1978 296 17,048 NA 15,071 87.4
1979 308 17,441 NA 14,955 84.4
1980 319 17,988 NA 13,796 75.4
1981 324 18,621 18,603 12,752 68.6
1982 301 17,890 17,432 12,172 69.9
1983 258 16,859 16,668 11,947 71.7
1984 247 16,137 16,035 12,216 76.2
1985 223 15,659 15,671 12,165 77.6
1986 216 15,459 15,459 12,826 82.9
1987 219 15,566 15,642 13,003 83.1
1988 213 15,915 15,927 13,447 R 84.4
1989 204 15,655 15,701 13,551 R 86.3
1990 205 15,572 15,623 13,610 87.1
1991 202 15,676 15,707 13,508 86.0
1992 199 15,696 15,460 13,600 87.9
1993 187 15,121 15,143 13,851 91.5
1994 179 15,034 15,150 14,032 92.6
1995 175 15,434 15,346 14,119 92.0
1996 170 15,333 15,239 14,337 94.1
1997 164 15,452 15,594 14,838 95.2
1998 163 15,711 15,802 15,113 95.6
1999 159 16,261 16,282 15,080 92.6
2000 158 16,512 16,525 15,299 92.6
2001 155 16,595 16,582 15,352 92.6
2002 153 16,785 16,744 15,180 90.7
2003 149 16,757 16,748 15,508 92.6
2004 149 16,894 16,974 15,783 93.0
2005 148 17,125 17,196 15,578 90.6
2006 149 17,339 17,385 15,602 89.7
2007 149 17,443 17,450 15,450 88.5
2008 150 17,594 17,607 15,027 85.3
2009 150 17,672 17,678 14,659 82.9
2010 148 17,584 R 17,575 R 15,177 R 86.4
2011P 148 17,736 17,726 15,283 86.2
1Through 1956, includes only those refineries in operation on January 1; beginning in 1957, includes all
"operable" refineries on January 1.  See "Operable Refineries" in Glossary.
R=Revised.  P=Preliminary.  NA=Not available.  
2Average of monthly capacity data. Web Page:  For related information, see http://www.eia.gov/petroleum/.
3See Note 3, "Gross Input to Distillation Units," at end of section. Sources:  ·  1949-1977—Bureau of Mines, Information Circular, "Petroleum Refineries, Including
Cracking Plants in the United States"; Minerals Yearbook, "Crude Petroleum and Petroleum Products" and
"Natural Gas Liquids" chapters; and Mineral Industry Surveys, Petroleum Refineries, Annual, annual
reports.  ·  1978-1980—U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Energy Data Reports, Petroleum
Refineries in the United States, annual reports.  ·  1981-2005—EIA, Petroleum Supply Annual (PSA),
annual reports; and Form EIA-810, "Monthly Refinery Report."  ·  2006-2010—EIA, PSA, annual reports;
and Refinery Capacity Report, annual reports.  ·  2011—EIA, Refinery Capacity Report (June 2011), Table
1; and Petroleum Supply Monthly (January-December 2011 issues), Table 30.
4Through 1980, utilization is calculated by dividing gross input to distillation units by one-half of the sum
of the current year's January 1 capacity and the following year's January 1 capacity.  Beginning in 1981,
utilization is calculated by dividing gross input to distillation units by the annual average capacity.
 
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