Top 20 Largest Refining Companies/Refiners in the U.S. as of Jan 1, 2011

by David Rachovich

Refiners' Total Operable Atmospheric Crude Oil Distillation Capacity 

Rank  Jan 1, 2011	Company	No. of Refineries	Barrels per Calendar Day (b/cd)*
1.	ConocoPhillips (USA)**	13	2,041,000
2.	ExxonMobil (USA)***	7	1,951,490
3.	Valero Energy Corp. (USA)	12	1,682,300
4.	BP (UK)^	6	1,368,050
5.	Marathon Oil Corp. (USA)	6	1,142,000
6.	Chevron Corp. (USA)	6	1,027,271
7.	Royal Dutch/Shell (NL/UK)+	8	976,650
8.	PDVSA (Venezuela)#	4	854,050
9.	Koch Industries Inc. (Flint Hills Resources; USA)	3	771,578
10.	Sunoco Inc. (USA)	3	673,000
11.	Tesoro (USA)	7	657,300
12.	Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabia)$	3	376,750
13.	PBF Energy (USA)	2	342,200
14.	Holly Corp. (USA)	4	285,350
15.	Access Industries (USA)	1	280,390
16.	Cenovus Energy (Canada)>	2	254,000
17.	Total (France)	1	232,000
18.	Alon (Israel)	4	231,500
19.	Western Refining Inc. (USA)	4	226,200
20.	Frontier Oil Corp. (USA)	2	185,000
U.S. Total^^		141"	17,736,370

*Includes partial interests in refineries not wholly owned by the company.  

**Including its 50% stake in the Wood River, Illinois, refinery and 50% stake in the Borger, Texas, refinery. WRB Refining LLC operates as a 50/50 joint venture between ConocoPhillips and Cenovus Energy (Calgary).

***Including its 50% stake in the Chalmette, Louisiana, refinery.

^Including its 50% stake in the BP-Husky, Toledo, Ohio, refinery.

+Including Shell's stakes in Motiva (i.e., its 50% stake in the Port Arthur, Texas, refinery; its 50% stake in the Convent, Louisiana, refinery; and its 50% stake in the Norco, Louisiana, refinery), and its 50% stake in the Deer Park, Texas, refinery.  

#Including its 50% stake in the Chalmette, Louisiana, refinery. Also, Citgo, a wholly-owned subsidiary of PDVSA, operates three refineries – Lakes Charles, Louisiana; Lemont, Illinois; and Corpus Christi, Texas.

$Consists of 50% stake in Motiva. Motiva is a 50/50 joint venture between Shell and Saudi Aramco.

>Consists of 50% stake in WRB Refining LLC (a 50/50 joint venture between ConocoPhillips and Cenovus), i.e., 50% stake in the Wood River, Illinois, refinery and 50% stake in the Borger, Texas, refinery.

^^Including other refineries but excluding Hovensa's 500,000 barrels-per-day refinery on the Caribbean island of St. Croix in the United States Virgin Islands. Hovensa is a joint venture between subsidiaries of Hess Corporation and Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA).

"Only refineries with atmospheric crude oil distillation capacity.

Notes: PBF Energy Company LLC on Tuesday, March 1, 2011, announced that its subsidiary, Toledo Refining Company LLC, has completed its purchase of the Toledo Refinery in Ohio from Sunoco, Inc. Separately, Western Refining  indefinitely suspended refining operations at the Bloomfield, New Mexico, refinery in November 2009.  Atmospheric crude oil distillation -- The refining process of separating crude oil components at atmospheric pressure by heating to temperatures of about 600 degrees to 750 degrees Fahrenheit (depending on the nature of the crude oil and desired products) and subsequent condensing of the fractions by cooling.

Source: Based on data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration/EIA, Refinery Capacity Report, Release date: Jun 24, 2011, Table 5, here.

(ConocoPhillips is the largest refiner in the United States, with crude oil distillation capacity of 2 million barrels per day as of Jan 1, 2011, followed by ExxonMobil and Valero. Also, please see my post "Top 10 Largest Refining Companies in Asia, the USA and Western Europe -- OGJ," and Aaron and David Rachovich, "Top 28 Largest Refineries in the U.S. as of Jan 1, 2011 -- EIA." Update: As of late 2012, the top 5 largest refiners/refining companies in the United States have been Valero/12 refineries with 2,096,500 b/cd of crude capacity, Phillips 66, ExxonMobil, BP and Marathon---please see Warren R. True and Leena Koottungal, "Asia, Middle East Lead Modest Recovery in Global Refining," OGJ, Dec 3, 2012, Table 2 in my post "World's Top 25 Largest Refiners, Jan 1, 2013 -- OGJ," Notes. For the USA, Valero has moved into the top spot for company-wide capacity, pushing Phillips 66 to No. 2 -- D.R.)

[...] US Ambassador [to Canada] Backs Increased Canadian Oil-Sands Imports

Petroleum Economist, June 9, 2011
The US government considers Canadian oil supplies an essential ingredient of energy security, even as competition for resources and assets ratchets up with rival China.

Speaking in Calgary, US ambassador to Canada David Jacobson described his country's need for greater imports from stable sources such as Canada to offset dependence on unstable regimes in the Middle East and North Africa. "The US sees Canada as a pillar of our energy security," he said.

It is already the largest energy-trading relationship in history, with Canada accounting for about 22% of US import demand [please see my post "U.S. Crude Oil Imports from Top 15 Countries, Dec 2010 and Full Year 2010," -- Canada supplied about 22% of total US crude oil imports in 2010, i.e., 1.97 million b/d of crude/please also see chart below, out of a total US imports of crude of 9.16 million b/d, as well as about 22% of total US crude oil and products imports in 2010, i.e., 2.532 million barrels per day---1.97 million b/d of crude oil plus 0.56 million b/d of petroleum products---out of a total US imports of crude and products of 11.753 million b/d -- D.R.). Alberta alone pumps about 1.4 million b/d to US refineries or 7% of overall US consumption [U.S. oil consumption increased by some 380,000 b/d or 2.0% to 19.148 million b/d in 2010, compared to the previous year---please see my post "Top 25 World Oil Consumers, 2009-2010." Separately, of the estimated 2.9 million b/d, sic, of crude oil produced in Canada in 2010, 1.5 million b/d of that was derived from the oil sands of Alberta---please see EIA. -- D.R.].

Canada long ago surpassed Saudi Arabia as the top supplier to the world's largest oil consumer and that relationship is poised to grow exponentially as Canadian producers increase production of oil-sands crude.

Canadian exports to the US have more than doubled since 1993 [US imports from Canada of crude oil increased from 900,000 b/d in 1993 to 1,972,000 b/d in 2010, and US imports from Canada of crude oil and petroleum products increased from 1,181,000 b/d in 1993 to 2,532,000 b/d in 2010 -- D.R.] and are set to double and quadruple over the next two decades.

According to IHS Cera, Canadian oil sands could supply 6.3 million b/d by 2035, not including any other conventional and unconventional production that would push the figure past 7 million b/d. Only Russia and Saudi Arabia would have larger output, IHC Cera added, vaulting Canada into the top tier of oil-producing nations. [...]

But that looming reality seems lost on US President Barack Obama, who has seemed to be reluctant to fully embrace the oil sands even as he has talked of the need to reduce imports from unstable and hostile regimes.

A series of nagging doubts have led some Canadian observers to question the president's energy priorities. For instance, the State Department has held up approvals for TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline to the Gulf coast [where there are more refineries capable of handling the unusually thick crude, i.e. the heavy, high-sulphur bitumen, and please see map below -- D.R.] while it carries out environmental assessments of the carbon intensity of Canadian oil sands and heavy crude in a move seen as bowing to environmental groups. [...]
                  [Click on map to enlarge]

                                                                    Source: PE, here.
Fearing the worst from Obama's climate-change and clean-energy initiatives, the Canadian and Alberta governments have lobbied against the adoption of clean-fuel standards and other environmental policies they claim would discriminate against Canada. [...]

Feeling snubbed by this seeming US indifference, Canada has been courting Asia, and particularly the Chinese, as an alternate buyer of its growing output.

China consumes less than half as much oil as the US [please see my posts "Top 25 World Oil Consumers, 2009-2010 -- EIA." and "Top 21 World Oil Consumers, 2007-2010 -- BP," -- D.R.], but will overtake it in a matter of decades, said Wenran Jiang of the University of Alberta's China Institute [According to the BP Energy Outlook 2030, China is the largest source of oil consumption growth, with consumption forecast to grow by 8 million b/d a day to reach 17.5 million b/d by 2030, overtaking the US to become the world's largest oil consumer -- D.R.]. And like the US, China considers Canadian energy supplies to be vital to its security and economic growth.

About 80% of China's imports must pass through the Malacca Strait and its is keen to diversify supply chains away from vulnerable shipping lanes in Southeast Asia. [Also, please see my post "What is Beijing Willing to Do to Secure Oil and Gas Supplies?" and my post "China: Taking Oil Home," -- D.R.] [...]

While the US dithers over whether to embrace "dirty oil" [please see remarks below -- D.R.] from Canada, Chinese state-owned entities have been on a shopping spree, snapping up C$20 billion ($19.8 billion [sic]) worth of assets in less than two years and forming operating partnerships with Canadian firms for both oil sands and unconventional shale gas.

There is presently no way of shipping that oil to China, but there is a growing call in Canada to do just that.

Enbridge's proposed Northern Gateway pipeline to Canada's west coast is seen as a way of opening up overseas markets and gaining higher world oil prices. [Read more]

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Today in Energy, Jun 14, 2011, here.

(Canadian oil producers have been clamoring for an outlet for their oil to reach the Gulf Coast, reliving a glut that's accumulated in Cushing, Oklahoma, where several pipeline routes terminate --- the delivery point for the West Texas Intermediate benchmark. The large amount of oil stranded in Cushing has led to a deep discount in crude-oil prices in the region and on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In March, the U.S. State Department delayed approval of the 1.1-million-barrel-a-day TransCanada Corp. Keystone XL pipeline expansion that would bring Canadian oil to the Gulf of Mexico. Environmental groups have raised objections about the possibility of oil spills. Alberta Energy Minister Ron Liepert called for the U.S. State Department to quickly approve the extension of a controversial oil pipeline to the U.S., adding that Canada has other potential customers for its oil. Canada is the biggest supplier of foreign oil to the U.S. but Minister Liepert said Canada is "actively cultivating" relationships with China and other emerging markets, where energy demand is growing rapidly---please see MarketWatch, May 16, 2011. In regard to environmental concerns surrounding oil sands production, Minister Liepert states, “We have been a leader in terms of initiatives around the environment. We have made significant advancement in tailings [Tailings are a mixture of fine clay, silt, sand, water and residual bitumen produced through oil sands extraction -- D.R.] management. Tailings are associated only with the mining operations, which is less than 50 per cent of the oil sands production now and continues to decline as a percentage of production.” He continues, “We have a 15 dollar per ton carbon tax, and most of the large operations in the oil sands fall under that. The tax goes into a clean energy fund. Alberta only has a population of 3.5 million people, but has invested $2 billion—probably the largest of any jurisdiction in the world—into carbon capture and storage.”---please see Energy Digital, Jun 14, 2011. -- D.R.)

Manifa to Yield 500,000 b/d by 2013 and 900,000 b/d by 2014 -- Aramco

by David Rachovich

                                Source: Saudi Aramco via OffshoreEnergyToday.com Feb 23, 2011

                                                       Source: Saudi Aramco website 

                [Click on map to enlarge]

                                                                             Source: Saudi Aramco via EIA, here.

"Significant progress was achieved in 2010 on Manifa, the giant Arabian Gulf offshore field under development [emphasis mine and please see map and images above -- D.R.]," Saudi Aramco said in its 2010 annual review, published on Monday (June 6).

"Project elements completed during the year included all drilling islands, as well as the main and lateral causeways. Construction of the Manifa Central Processing complex has begun, with the main spine and process area pipe rack completed. The Manifa development will accommodate a Central Processing Facility with gas-oil separation, wet crude handling, crude stabilization, gas gathering and compression, produced water disposal, water injection and other related facilities. Field development includes 41 km [25 mi] of causeways and 3 km [1.9 mi] of bridges to support 27 [man-made] drilling islands for the shallow water wells, and 13 offshore platforms for deeper water producing and water injection wells. Onshore facilities include 15 drill sites, a Central Oil and Gas Processing Facility, water supply wells and injection facilities, and multiple gathering, water injection, and product transportation pipelines," it added.

"Manifa is designed to produce in staged increments --- 500,000 [barrels per day] bpd of Arabian Heavy crude oil by 2013 and 900,000 bpd by 2014," the report said. And output "will be used as feedstock for planned refineries in the Kingdom [i.e., for two new deep-conversion refineries at Jubail and Yanbu -- D.R.]."

The Manifa Drilling Team set a new record in December 2010 when it finished drilling the longest well in Saudi Arabia to a total depth of 32,136 ft (± 9.8 km) and completed a horizontal power water injector across the Lower Ratawi reservoir. Calgary Precision Drilling rig did the work on the Manifa well. The same drilling team set an earlier record while working on the 30,850 ft (+9.4 km) Manifa well.

Discovered in 1957, Manifa field is in shallow waters southeast of Tanajib, about 200 km (124 mi) northwest of Dhahran. The oil production started when the C reservoir came on stream in 1964, and the B reservoir was brought on production in 1974. Manifa produced heavy crude oil with about 27° API gravity. The field was shut in during January 1984, due to low demand with less than 1% of the reserves produced (Saudi Aramco Journal of Technology, Summer 2009).

Development strategy of Manifa, the world's fifth-largest oil field, is based on optimum use of onshore drilling. Instead of developing Manifa completely from offshore platforms, it is developed from 27 offshore man-made drilling islands connected by a causeway, in addition to onshore drill sites and offshore platforms. Extended-reach wells such as the two mentioned above are required for optimum field coverage. "Manifa field is located in shallow and environmentally sensitive waters, necessitating maximizing drilling from onshore sites while minimizing offshore platforms," the report argued. Actually, the state-of-the art extended reach drilling (ERD) technology reduces the high capital and operating costs of large offshore structures (jackup rigs or shallow water rigs, with legs that reach the bottom of the sea floor) and at the same time minimizes the environmental impact in this sensitive near-shore area.

"The Kingdom's longer-term concern is over whether it needs to increase oil production capacity to meet likely future demand. The Saudi view on oil markets has altered sharply from where it was a year ago, when a battered global economy was still limping out of recession. Riyadh thinks medium- to long-term oil demand growth may be higher than it had previously anticipated, driven by China, India and also Middle East itself, and discussions are now taking place on whether the Kingdom should raise oil output capacity beyond its current 12.5 million b/d," Petroleum Intelligence Weekly (PIW) said in its article "Saudis Consider Need to Raise Output Capacity." "Now, while no decisions have yet been made and while work is unlikely to start this year, expansions at Shaybah, Manifa and Khurais are back on the table," it maintained. "Aramco has already decided to bring forward the 10 billion- 14 billion bbl Manifa project, and could now expand its capacity from 900,000 b/d to 1.2 million b/d," the article said.

During the May 2010 Offshore Technology Conference, Zuhair Al-Hussain, Aramco vice-president, drilling and workovers, said production from Manifa will start in mid-2013 but will not ramp up quickly to the original target of 900,000 b/d of Arab heavy crude (Oil & Gas Journal via my post).

Saudi Aramco Annual Review 2010 is available for download on the Saudi Aramco website at: http://www.saudiaramco.com/content/www/en/home.html#news%257C%252Fen%252Fhome%252Fnews%252Fpublications-and-reports%252Fcorporate-reports0%252FAnnualreview.baseajax.html

(Update 1: Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi, chairman of the board of directors at Saudi Aramco toured oil and natural gas installations in the country on October 16, 2012, as part of a review of the country's long-term energy prospects. During the tour with the Board members, HE Naimi launched the Manifa Field’s reservoir water injection operations in preparation for first phase production of Arabian Heavy crude oil at an initial capacity of 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the first half of 2013, and which will gradually increase to 900,000 bpd by 2014. The crude oil from Manifa will feed local refineries that are currently under construction, namely the 400,000 b/d SATORP refinery in the easterm Saudi Arabian city of Jubail with France’s Total, and the 400,000 b/d YASREF in Yanbu' on the Red Sea, the joint venture with Sinopec of China (Aramco has said the new Yanbu refinery, which joins two existing refineries at Yanbu, will produce 90,000 b/d of gasoline, 263,000 b/d of ultralow sulfur diesel, and 6,300 tonnes/day (tpd) of petcoke as well as 1,200 tpd of sulfur--see OGJ Online, Dec 3, 2012), and the upcoming Jazan refinery, which has received Board approval for financing, and the project’s contracts are expected to be awarded in the coming weeks---please see Saudi Aramco website/Latest news, Dhahran, Oct 16, 2012 Update 2: Saudi Aramco has let a contract to Houston-based KBR for front-end engineering and design of an integrated gasification combined-cycle power plant in conjunction with a 400,000 bpd refinery under development at Jazan Economic City, Saudi Arabia, according to OGJ Online, Oct. 22, 2012. The IGCC plant, which KBR says will be the world’s largest such facility, will gasify vacuum residue to supply electricity to the refinery and make 2.4 Gw available to Jazan and the surrounding region---please OGJ Online, Nov 13, 2012. Update 3: Production has begun from the first phase of development of Manifa oil field offshore Saudi Arabia and is expected to reach 500,000 bpd by July [2013]. The start-up was 3 months ahead of schedule, according to Saudi Aramco---please see "Manifa oil flow starts offshore Saudi Arabia," OGJ Online, April 15, 2013 -- D.R.)