Market Speaks: Global Crude Oil Refinery Capacity Declines For First Time In Over 30 Years

29 Jun 2022 , 02:54 PM

Crude oil demand is slowly returning to the pre Covid trajectory. The BP noted in a latest Statistical Review of Energy that global oil consumption increased by 5.3 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2021 but remained 3.7 million b/d below 2019 levels. Oil prices averaged $70.91/bbl in 2021, the second highest level since 2015. A majority of the consumption growth came from gasoline (1.8 million b/d) and diesel/gasoil (1.3 million b/d). Regionally, most of the growth took place in the US (1.5 million b/d), China (1.3 million b/d) and the EU (570,000 b/d). Global crude oil production increased by 1.4 million b/d in 2021, with OPEC+ accounting for more than three-quarters of the increase. Among all countries, Libya (840,000 b/d), Iran (540,000 b/d) and Canada (300,000 b/d) saw the largest increases. Nigeria (-200,000 b/d), the UK (-170,000 b/d) and Angola (-150,000 b/d) reported the biggest declines. Refinery capacity declined for the first time in over 30 years by almost 500,000 b/d last year driven by a sharp reduction in the OECD (1.1 million b/d). As a result, refining capacity in the OECD in 2021 was at its lowest level since 1998.Powered by Commodity Insights