據6月26日Hydrocarbon processing報道，美國可操作的常壓原油蒸餾能力在2019年增長了0.9%，達到創紀錄的1900萬桶/天，較前一年的1880萬桶/天增加了20萬桶/天。根據美國能源信息署(EIA)的年度煉油產能報告，美國可操作原油蒸餾裝置(CDU)的產能在過去8年中有7年都處于增長狀態。

EIA以兩種方式衡量煉油能力:日歷日的產能和工作日的產能。日歷日產能是經營者對蒸餾裝置在正常運行條件下24小時內可處理的輸入量的估計，包括計劃維護和計劃外維護的影響。當日生產能力反映了蒸餾設備在最佳原油和產品狀態下滿負荷運行時，在不考慮停機時間的情況下，24小時內可處理的最大投入桶數，其運力通常比日歷日的運力高6%。

2019年開始，美國(不包括地區)可操作的煉油廠(包括閑置和運營的煉油廠)，共有135家。2019年關閉的一家煉油廠是大陸煉油有限責任公司位于肯塔基州薩默塞特市的額定產能達5500桶/天的煉油廠，該煉油廠自2018年3月以來一直處于停產狀態。然而，Flint Hills Resources將其對科珀斯克里斯蒂東部和西部工廠的報告分拆給了EIA，使EIA對可操作的美國煉油廠數量的計算恢復到了135家。

截至1月1日，費城能源解決方案公司(Philadelphia Energy Solutions)的煉油廠仍在美國能源信息署(EIA)的計算范圍內，但該煉油廠在2019年6月的一場火災損壞了部分煉油廠后不久就停止了運營，且該煉油廠的出售仍懸而未決。

隨著美國在過去10年增加原油產量，美國原油的平均密度已變得更輕。由于美國煉油廠減少了加工原油的進口量，并以國內生產的原油取代進口原油，因此對煉油廠的原油投入增加了平均API重力(一種衡量原油密度的指標，數值越高，密度越低)。例如，擁有美國約一半煉油產能的美國墨西哥灣沿岸地區，2019年用于煉油廠的原油投入中，進口原油僅占28%，低于2010年的69%。

美國煉油廠已通過小幅提高航空燃料、汽油和餾分油等由輕質原油提煉的石油產品的產量，來適應這種不斷變化的原油格局。他們還增加了對下游煉油廠裝置的使用，這些裝置用于將來自常壓原油蒸餾裝置的產品加工成超低硫柴油和汽油以及其他產品。這些較輕的產品通常具有較高的煉油利潤率，即石油產品與原油價格之差的衡量標準。

EIA的最新煉油產能報告還包括2020年剩余時間的產能擴張計劃。根據EIA最近更新的信息，美國今年的煉油產能不會大幅增加。

鄒勤 摘譯自 Hydrocarbon processing

原文如下：

US refinery capacity sets new record

US operable atmospheric crude oil distillation capacity increased 0.9% during 2019, reaching a record of 19.0 million barrels per calendar day (b/cd), up 200 000 b/cd from the previous record of 18.8 million b/cd the year before. According to the US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) annual Refinery Capacity Report, U.S. operable crude oil distillation unit (CDU) capacity has increased slightly in seven of the past eight years.

EIA measures refinery capacity in two ways: barrels per calendar day and barrels per stream day (b/sd). Calendar-day capacity is the operator’s estimate of the input that a distillation unit can process in a 24-hour period under usual operating conditions, recognising the effects of both planned and unplanned maintenance.

Stream-day capacity reflects the maximum number of barrels of input that a distillation facility can process within a 24-hour period when running at full capacity under optimal crude oil and product slate conditions with no allowance for downtime. Stream-day capacity is typically about 6% higher than calendar-day capacity.

The number of operable refineries in the US (excluding territories), which includes both idle and operating refineries, started 2019 at a total of 135. One refinery shut down in 2019: Continental Refining Company LLC’s 5500 b/cd refinery in Somerset, Kentucky, which had been inactive since March 2018. However, Flint Hills Resources split out its reporting to EIA of the Corpus Christi East and West plants, bringing EIA’s calculation of the number of operable US refineries back to 135.

The 335 000 b/cd Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery remained in EIA’s refinery count as of 1 January, but it has not operated since shortly after a fire in June 2019 damaged part of the refinery complex; a sale of the refinery is pending.

As the US has increased crude oil production over the past decade, the average density of US crude oil has become lighter. Because US refineries imported less of the crude oil they processed and replaced imports with domestically produced crude oil, the average API gravity – a measure of a crude oil’s density where higher numbers mean lower density – of crude oil inputs to refineries increased. For example, the US Gulf Coast, which is home to about half of US refining capacity, used imported crude oil for only 28% of its crude oil inputs to refineries during 2019, down from 69% in 2010.

US refineries have adapted to this changing crude oil slate by slightly increasing their yields of petroleum products that are derived from lighter crude oil, such as jet fuel, gasoline, and distillate. They have also increased their use of downstream refinery units, which are used to process the products coming from the atmospheric crude distillation unit into ultra-low sulfur diesel and gasoline as well as other products. These lighter products often have higher refining margins, a measure that represents the difference between the prices of petroleum products and crude oil.

EIA’s updated Refinery Capacity Report also includes information on capacity expansions planned for the rest of 2020. Based on information reported to EIA in the most recent update, US refining capacity will not expand significantly this year.