The capacity of US petroleum refineries increased by 101,000 barrels per calendar day between 2013 and 2014, according to a report by the US Energy Information Administration.
There are currently 139 operating refineries and three idle refineries with total atmospheric crude oil distillation capacity of 17.9 million bbl/cd in the US. In addition, four refineries changed ownership in 2013, a number that is on par with sales in previous years.
The largest refiner in the US continues to be Valero Energy, with total ACDU capacity in excess of 1.9 million bbl/cd. Exxon Mobil is the second largest refinery at slightly less that 1.9 million bbl/cd.
Marathon Petroleum became the third largest refiner during 2013, with a capacity of 1.7 million bbl/cd, by acquiring a refinery in Texas City, Texas (451,000 bbl/cd) from BP. Marathon is calling the newly-acquired refinery Galveston Bay to distinguish it from a smaller refinery in Texas City it previously owned.
Phillips 66 fell to no 4 in the rankings list, and Motiva remained in the no. 5 spot. Combined, Valero, Exxon Mobil, Marathon, Phillips 66 and Motiva own 45 percent of total US refining capacity.
Regarding ownership, Tesoro became the largest West Coast refiner with its purchase of a refinery from BP in Carson, Calif. (251,000 bbl/cd). Aside from that one change, the concentration of refinery ownership remains largely unchanged from the previous year. PBF Energy and Marathon, respectively, lead the East Coast and Midwest in refining capacity. Valero has the most capacity in the Gulf Coast region, and Suncor has the most capacity in the Rocky Mountains.
There were four refinery sales in 2013. Aside from the two BP sales previously mentioned, Nustar Petroleum sold its San Antonio, Texas refinery (16,112 bbl/cd) to Calumet Specialty Products Partners, and Tesoro sold its Ewa Beach (Kapolei), Hawaii, refinery (93,500 bbl/cd) to Par Petroleum.