Global oil refinery industry - statistics & facts
The process of converting crude oil into usable products is called refining. Refining is part of the downstream sector, one of three main components of the oil and gas industry. The most commonly made product from one barrel of crude oil is motor fuel, or gasoline in particular. Once processed crude oil has a wide array of uses. Apart from being turned into transportation fuels, it is also a major feedstock in the petrochemical industry and the building block for plastics.
In 2022, the refinery throughput of ExxonMobil, the largest U.S. oil refiner, was roughly 4 million barrels per day. Daily processing volumes have declined by nearly one million barrels since 2012.
Crude and refined products production
Oil companies across the world extract around 94 million barrels of crude oil per day. Apart from times of economic strain, oil production has been increasing every year. While extraction is primarily located in North America and the Middle East, refining and as such refined oil products production often happens closer to consumer centers, with Asia refining more crude than any other region.Capacities and throughput
The total global refinery capacity for crude oil is over 100 million barrels per day. In recent years, China has notably increased its refinery capacities and today the China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (or Sinopec in short) has one of the largest distillation capacities in the world. However, despite the great strides made by China, as of 2022 the United States remains the largest oil refining country. That year, U.S. oil throughput stood at 15.9 million barrels per day, an increase of some two million barrels compared to 1990.In 2022, the refinery throughput of ExxonMobil, the largest U.S. oil refiner, was roughly 4 million barrels per day. Daily processing volumes have declined by nearly one million barrels since 2012.
