美国炼油厂产能创新纪录

据6月26日Hydrocarbon processing报道，美国可操作的常压原油蒸馏能力在2019年增长了0.9%，达到创纪录的1900万桶/天，较前一年的1880万桶/天增加了20万桶/天。根据美国能源信息署(EIA)的年度炼油产能报告，美国可操作原油蒸馏装置(CDU)的产能在过去8年中有7年都处于增长状态。

EIA以两种方式衡量炼油能力:日历日的产能和工作日的产能。日历日产能是经营者对蒸馏装置在正常运行条件下24小时内可处理的输入量的估计，包括计划维护和计划外维护的影响。当日生产能力反映了蒸馏设备在最佳原油和产品状态下满负荷运行时，在不考虑停机时间的情况下，24小时内可处理的最大投入桶数，其运力通常比日历日的运力高6%。

2019年开始，美国(不包括地区)可操作的炼油厂(包括闲置和运营的炼油厂)，共有135家。2019年关闭的一家炼油厂是大陆炼油有限责任公司位于肯塔基州萨默塞特市的额定产能达5500桶/天的炼油厂，该炼油厂自2018年3月以来一直处于停产状态。然而，Flint Hills Resources将其对科珀斯克里斯蒂东部和西部工厂的报告分拆给了EIA，使EIA对可操作的美国炼油厂数量的计算恢复到了135家。

截至1月1日，费城能源解决方案公司(Philadelphia Energy Solutions)的炼油厂仍在美国能源信息署(EIA)的计算范围内，但该炼油厂在2019年6月的一场火灾损坏了部分炼油厂后不久就停止了运营，且该炼油厂的出售仍悬而未决。

随着美国在过去10年增加原油产量，美国原油的平均密度已变得更轻。由于美国炼油厂减少了加工原油的进口量，并以国内生产的原油取代进口原油，因此对炼油厂的原油投入增加了平均API重力(一种衡量原油密度的指标，数值越高，密度越低)。例如，拥有美国约一半炼油产能的美国墨西哥湾沿岸地区，2019年用于炼油厂的原油投入中，进口原油仅占28%，低于2010年的69%。

美国炼油厂已通过小幅提高航空燃料、汽油和馏分油等由轻质原油提炼的石油产品的产量，来适应这种不断变化的原油格局。他们还增加了对下游炼油厂装置的使用，这些装置用于将来自常压原油蒸馏装置的产品加工成超低硫柴油和汽油以及其他产品。这些较轻的产品通常具有较高的炼油利润率，即石油产品与原油价格之差的衡量标准。

EIA的最新炼油产能报告还包括2020年剩余时间的产能扩张计划。根据EIA最近更新的信息，美国今年的炼油产能不会大幅增加。

邹勤 摘译自 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.