World's Top 21 Largest Oil Refineries -- OGJ

by Aaron and David Rachovich

World's Largest Refineries (minimum capacity of 400,000 b/cd) 

Rank	Company	Location	Crude Capacity, barrels per calendar day (b/cd)
1.	Paraguana Refining Center*	Cardon/Judibana, Falcon, Venezuela	940,000
2.	SK Corp.	Ulsan, South Korea	817,000
3.	GS Caltex Corp.	Yeosu, South Korea	750,000
4.	Reliance Petroleum Ltd. [merged with RIL since 2009]	Jamnagar, India	660,000
5.	ExxonMobil Refining & Supply Co.	Jurong/Pulau Ayer Chawan, Singapore	605,000
6.	Reliance Industries Ltd. [RIL]	Jamnagar, India	580,000
7.	S-Oil Corp.	Onsan, South Korea	565,000
8.	ExxonMobil Refining & Supply Co.	Baytown,** Texas, USA	560,500
9.	Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Saudi Aramco)	Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia	550,000
10.	Formosa Petrochemical Co.	Mailiao, Taiwan	540,000
11.	ExxonMobil Refining & Supply Co.	Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA	503,500
12.	Hovensa LLC	St. Croix, Virgin Islands, USA	500,000
13.	Kuwait National Petroleum Co.	Mina Al-Ahmadi, Kuwait	466,000
14.	Shell Eastern Petroleum (Pte) Ltd.	Pulau, Bukom, Singapore	462,000
15.	BP PLC	Texas City, Texas, USA	451,250
16.	Citgo Petroleum Corp.	Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA	440,000
17.	Marathon Petroleum Co. LLC	Garyville, Louisiana, USA	436,000
18.	Shell Nederland Raffinaderij B.V.	Pernis, Netherlands	404,000
19.	Sinopec	Zhenhai, China	403,000
20.	Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Saudi Aramco)	Rabigh, Saudi Arabia	400,000
21.	Saudi Aramco-Mobil	Yanbu, Saudi Arabia	400,000

Notes: RIL's new refinery in the Special Economic Zone at Jamnagar is the world's sixth largest and has a Nelson Complexity Index of 14.0, making it one of the most complex refineries globally. The refinery has a capacity of processing 580,000 barrels of crude oil per stream day. With the commissioning of the new refinery in its SEZ, Jamnagar has now become the petroleum hub of the world. With 1.24 million barrels per day of nominal crude processing capacity (i.e., No. 6 Jamnagar + No. 4 Jamnagar, above), it is the single largest refining complex in the world. This is equivalent to 1.6% [sic] of global capacity or one third of India’s capacity, and places RIL amongst the top ten private refiners globally. Please read RIL's website, here. For 2010, OGJ's survey shows total capacity at more than 88.2 million b/cd in 662 refineries, an increase of 1 million b/cd over the figure for 2009 of 87.2 million b/cd for 661 refineries. OGJ's refinery survey for 2008 listed a global capacity of 85.6 million b/cd in 655 refineries. – Please read Warren R. True and Leena Koottungal, "Global Capacity Growth Slows, But Asian Refineries Bustle," OGJ, Dec 6, 2010. South Korea is home to three of the ten largest crude oil refineries in the world – SK Energy's Ulsan (No. 2), GS Caltex's Yeosu (No. 3) and S-Oil's Onsan (No. 7), according to OGJ data above.

*The Paraguana Refining Center (Centro Refinacion Paraguana/CRP) or Complex is the result of the merger in 1997 of three refineries: the Amuay refinery, the Cardon refinery and the Bajo Grande refinery, and currently considered the world's second largest refinery complex, after the Jamnagar complex (No. 4 Jamnagar + No. 6 Jamnagar, above) in India---please see notes above. The Paraguana Refining Center has a Nelson Complexity Index of 7.1. It has the nominal capacity to refine 955,000 barrels of crude oil per day. -- D.R.

**Update 1: Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Saudi Aramco became co-owners of the largest U.S. refinery when a new crude distillation unit at their joint-venture Motiva Enterprises Port Arthur, Texas, plant received oil for the first time. The 325,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) atmospheric crude distillation unit that started processing combines with existing crude units to give Motiva's Port Arthur, Texas, refinery a total crude oil refining capacity of 600,000 bpd, said Shell Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry during the company's first quarter earnings call. With the startup of the new Port Arthur crude unit, Exxon Mobil Corp's Baytown, Texas, refinery becomes the second-largest refinery in the United States---please see "Motiva Port Arthur refinery becomes U.S. largest - Shell," Reuters, Apr 26, 2012. Update 2: But by far the biggest refining story in North America in 2012 centered on the massive expansion at Motiva Enterprise LLC's Port Arthur, Tex., refinery. The 325,000 bpd, $10 billion expansion, largest at a US refinery in nearly 40 years and designed for feedstock flexibility, was dedicated on May 31, raising capacity to 600,000 bpd and making it the largest US refinery. On June 9, 2012, however, the new crude distillation unit sprung leaks traced to massive corrosion; a fire ensued and the expansion was shut down. Motiva has since traced the problem to faulty design. The unit will not restart before the end of first-quarter 2013, if then---please see Warren R. True and Leena Koottungal, "Asia, Middle East lead modest recovery in global refining," OGJ, Dec 3, 2012 -- D.R.
 

Source: Oil & Gas Journal, Dec 6, 2010.

(Also, please see my post "Top 10 Largest Refining Companies in Asia, the USA and Western Europe -- OGJ," here. And my post "World's Top 25 Largest Refining Companies, Jan 1, 2011 -- OGJ," here. Furthermore, please see Aaron and David Rachovich, "Top 28 Largest Refineries in the U.S. as of Jan 1, 2011 -- EIA," and David Rachovich, "Top 20 Largest Refining Companies/Refiners in the U.S. as of Jan 1, 2011." Update -- please see my post "World's Top 21 Largest Oil Refineries -- OGJ," Feb 7, 2012 . Breaking News: On August 25, 2012, a massive blast at Venezuela's largest oil refinery, the 645,000 b/d Amuay refinery (part of the Paraguana Refinery Complex, please see table and notes above), on Paraguana peninsula, has left at least 39 people dead and dozens others injured. A gas leak is being blamed for the blast. Update 2: "World's Top 21 Largest Oil Refineries -- OGJ," OGJ, Jan 6, 2013 -- D.R.)   

World's Top 25 Largest Refining Companies, Jan 1, 2011 -- OGJ

by David Rachovich

World's Top 25 Refining Companies 

Rank  Jan 1, 2011	Rank  Jan 1, 2010	Company	Crude Capacity, barrels per calendar day (b/cd)*
1.	1.	ExxonMobil Corp. [USA]	5,783,000
2.	2.	Royal Dutch/Shell [NL/UK]	4,509,239
3.	3.	Sinopec [China]	3,971,000
4.	4.	BP [UK]	3,325,050
5.	5.	ConocoPhillips [USA]	2,778,200
6.	10.	Chevron Corp. [USA]**	2,755,600
7.	7.	PDVSA [Venezuela]	2,678,000
8.	6.	Valero Energy Corp. [USA]	2,616,500
9.	8.	CNPC [China]	2,615,000
10.	9.	Total [France]	2,451,106
11.	11.	Saudi Aramco [Saudi Arabia]	2,433,000
12.	12.	Petrobras [Brazil]	1,997,000
13.	13.	Pemex [Mexico]	1,703,000
14.	14.	NIOC [Iran]	1,451,000
15.	15.	JX Nippon Oil & Energy [Japan]	1,423,200
16.	16.	Rosneft [Russia]	1,293,000
17.	17.	OAO Lukoil [Russia]	1,217,000
18.	18.	Marathon Petroleum Co [USA]	1,188,000
19.	19.	Repsol YPF SA [Spain]	1,105,000
20.	20.	KNPC [Kuwait]	1,085,000
21.	21.	Pertamina [Indonesia]	993,000
22.	22.	Agip Petroli SPA [Italy]	904,000
23.	23.	Sunoco Inc [USA]	825,000
24.	24.	SK Corp. [South Korea]	817,000
25.	25.	Flint Hills Resources [USA]	816,525

Notes: Major changes of positions in the above table since Jan. 1, 2010, involve only Chevron; Valero moves down two notches; China National Petroleum Co. and Total each moves down a notch. Chevron's move is based on capacity increases at GS Caltex and Caltex Australia. Valero completed the sale of refineries. On December 17, 2010, Valero Energy Corp. announced the completion of the sale of its 185,000 b/d refinery at Paulsboro, N.J. to PBF Holding Company LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of PBF Energy Company LLC of Greenwich, Conn. In April 2010, Swiss refiner Petroplus Holdings agreed to buy Valero's Delaware City refinery via its investment joint venture PBF Energy. CNPC moved as a result of Valero's changes, and Total reported decreased capacities. Other refiners remained at the same ranking as they started the year. – Please read Warren R. True and Leena Koottungal, "Global Capacity Growth Slows, But Asian Refineries Bustle," OGJ, Dec 6, 2010.

*Includes partial interests in refineries not wholly owned by the company.  **Includes holdings in Caltex Oil and GS Caltex.

Source: Oil & Gas Journal, Dec 6, 2010.

(Please see my post "Top 10 Largest Refining Companies in Asia, the USA and Western Europe," here. Also, please see Aaron and David Rachovich, "World's Top 21 Largest Oil Refineries," including notes, here. Furthermore, please see my post "Top 20 Largest Refining Companies/Refiners in the U.S. as of Jan 1, 2011." Update: "World's Top 25 Largest Refiners, Jan 1, 2013 -- OGJ." -- D.R.)

S Korea's 2010 Сrude Imports up 4.5% on Year to 872.4 mil Barrels

Platts, Seoul, Feb 15, 2011
South Korea's imports of crude oil in 2010 increased 4.5% from the previous year to 872.4 million barrels, or 2.39 million b/d, but its bills surged 35.4% to $68.7 billion due to higher international prices, the energy ministry said Tuesday.

The country paid $50.7 billion in 2009 to import 835.1 million barrels of crude.

South Korea also imported 276.8 million barrels of refined oil products last year, up 3.2% from 2009, and its bills jumped 40.8% to $20.9 billion, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, responsible for energy, industry and commerce.

"The country paid a total of $89.6 billion to import crude and refined products last year, up 36.8% from $65.5 billion in 2009," the ministry said in a statement. "The country imported more crude oil to meet demand from refiners for local consumption and exports of oil products," it said.

South Korea bought 277 million barrels of crude, or 31.7%, of its total imports, from Saudi Arabia last year, and 106 million barrels, or 12.1%, from the United Arab Emirates. It also imported 103 million barrels, or 11.8%, from Kuwait, 73 million barrels, or 8.3%, from Iran, 64 million barrels, or 7.4%, from Qatar and 60 million, or 6.9%, from Iraq. Imports from Iran fell 10.8% from the previous year amid international sanctions.

South Korea exported 391.1 million barrels of oil products last year, up 3.9% from 376.4 million barrels in 2009, and earned $33.8 billion, up 32.8% [sic] from $25.5 billion in 2009.

The country exported $11.75 billion worth diesel last year, up 35.1% from 2009, $6.34 billion worth of jet fuel, up 31.4%, and $3.48 billion worth of gasoline, up 22.9%. A total of 77 million barrels, or 22.5% [sic] of its total exports, were shipped to China, followed by 41 million barrels, or 11.9%, each to Japan and Singapore.

The country produced 938.9 million barrels of oil products last year, up 2.9% from 912.6 million barrels in 2009, including 268.4 million barrels of diesel, 111.8 billion barrels of gasoline, and 122.5 million barrels of Bunker C oil.

The country's top refiner SK Innovation, formerly SK Energy, produced 339.5 million barrels of oil products last year, up 5.1% from 2009. The second-biggest refiner GS Caltex's production increased 6.6% to 270.9 million barrels. But production by S-Oil and Hyundai Oilbank fell 2.0% and 1.8% to 198.4 million barrels and 124.5 million barrels, respectively, due to maintenance.

The country domestically consumed 794.5 million barrels of oil products in 2010, up 2.1% from the previous year's 778.5 million barrels, according to the ministry.

It consumed 134.7 million barrels of diesel last year, up 1.8% from 2009, and 68.9 million barrels of gasoline, up 4.6%. Its consumption of kerosene rose 13.1% to 29.4 million barrels, while Bunker C consumption fell 5.9% to 62.1 million barrels due to more use of LNG in power generation, according to the ministry. [Full story]

(With no domestic oil reserves, South Korea must import all of its crude oil. South Korea is home to three of the ten largest crude oil refineries in the world -- SK Energy's Ulsan, GS Caltex's Yeosu and S-Oil's Onsan---please see list of largest oil refineries in the world, here. In 2009, South Korea ranked sixth among the world's Top 10 net oil importers behind the United States, China, Japan, Germany and India---please see EIA graphic, here. Also, although South Korea is not among the group of top gas-consuming nations, it is the world's second largest importer of LNG after Japan. For South Korea's LNG imports in 2010, please see here. -- D.R.)

Intertanko: World Oil Shipping Routes 'Under Threat' from Piracy

by Eric Watkins, OGJ, Feb 11, 2011
Piracy in the Indian Ocean is rapidly getting out of control and is threatening to disrupt flows of oil to markets in the US and around the world, according to an oil shipping industry association.

“The piracy situation is now spinning out of control into the entire Indian Ocean right to the top of the Arabian Sea over 1,000 miles from the coast of Somalia,” said Joe Angelo, managing director of the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (Intertanko).

“If piracy in the Indian Ocean is left unabated, it will strangle these crucial shipping lanes with the potential to severely disrupt oil flows to the US and to the rest of the world,” Angelo said.

Angelo’s remarks came after pirates off the coast of Somalia captured a Greek-flagged supertanker carrying nearly 300,000 tons of crude oil to the Gulf of Mexico, the second successful attack against an oil tanker by sea bandits in as many days.

The Irene SL [see image below -- D.R.] was sailing 360 km east of Oman carrying 266,000 tons of crude and a crew of 7 Greeks, 17 Filipinos, and 1 Georgian when it was attacked, officials said. The value of the oil on board was estimated at $150 million.

Intertanko underlined the potential gravity of the hijacking, saying that that the Irene SL’s cargo of Kuwaiti crude represents nearly 20% of total US daily oil imports. This one cargo is 12% of all oil coming out of the Middle East Gulf each day, and 5% of total daily world seaborne oil supply.

“The hijacking by pirates of 2 million bbl of Kuwaiti crude oil destined for the US in a large Greek tanker in the middle of the main sea lanes coming from the Middle East Gulf marks a significant shift in the impact of the piracy crisis in the Indian Ocean,” Intertanko said.

That view was shared by John Drake, a senior risk consultant for London-based security firm AKE, who said the situation is only going to worsen, largely due to the payment of ransoms.

“With rising ransoms, pirates are able to hire more men, bribe more officials and wait longer periods to negotiate,” Drake said.

The Irene SL is the second oil tanker to be attacked in that region in 2 days. On Feb. 8, Somali pirates firing small arms and rocket-propelled grenades hijacked the Savina Caylyn, an Italian-flagged Aframax crude tanker transiting the Indian Ocean to Malaysia from Sudan with 80,000 tonnes of oil.

After that attack, Adm. Giampaolo Di Paola, chairman of NATO's Military Committee, said piracy “is spreading across the entire Indian Ocean, a fundamental crossroads for world traffic.” [Full story]

(Nevertheless, it should be noted that Kuwait does not rank among the major oil suppliers to the U.S.---see my post here. Crude supplies from Kuwait amounted to some 200,000 barrels a day in the month in 2010. -- D.R.)
                                              VLCC MV Irene SL

Source: EU NAVFOR Somalia, here. Description: Builder: Hyunday Heavy Ind, Ulsan, South Korea, 319,247 DWT