U.S. refineries have decreased in number since 1985, but total distillation capacity rose to a high of 18.7 million barrels per calendar day in 2019.
January 20, 2020
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In 1982 there were over 250 operating crude oil refineries in the United States; that number declined to 132 by 2019. Meanwhile, the total distillation capacity of all refineries combined increased from a low of 14.4 million barrels per calendar day in 1985 to a high of 18.7 in 2019. Thus, the average distillation capacity per refinery increased by 123% from 1982 to 2019.
Note: Data are as of January 1 of each year. Data for 1996 and 1998 were not available, thus those data were interpolated using 1995, 1997, and 1999 data.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration website, "Number and Capacity of Petroleum Refineries" accessed November 9, 2019.