美国炼油厂三季度将继续以高利用率水平运营

据油价网8月18日消息称，美国炼油企业高管和分析师周四对路透社表示，尽管担心经济衰退可能导致需求放缓，但美国炼油厂第三季度将继续以高利用率水平运营。

由于需求强劲，炼油利润率处于多年高位，炼油厂在第二季度高速运营以满足美国石油最大储备容量，二季度，尽管利润率有所下降，但炼油厂的目标是继续以满足美国石油最大储备容量的速度运营。

EIA周三发布的每周库存报告显示，截至8月12日，美国炼油厂四周的平均炼油利用率为92.7%，高于2021同期的91.6%。根据EIA数据，近几周墨西哥湾沿岸的利用率接近97%，而东海岸的炼油厂的利用率高于98%。

据接受路透社采访的高管表示，包括马拉松石油（Marathon Petroleum）和瓦莱罗能源（Valero Energy）在内的最大炼油厂计划提高利用率，尽管比第二季度略低。

美国炼油厂和石油天然气运营商预计，今年剩余时间内对燃料和能源的需求将保持强劲，尽管分析师最近几周担心，需求可能会受到经济衰退或需求破坏的影响。美国炼油商在7月份的财报电话会议上表示，没有迹象表明美国的燃料需求正在减弱。

“在第二季度，为了满足强劲的客户需求，我们充分利用了我们的炼油系统。”马拉松石油公司首席执行官Mike Hennigan在8月初的电话财报会议上表示。

“炼油厂以100%的利用率运行，在我们的13家炼油厂每天安全可靠地处理约290万桶原油。这与2019年疫情开始前在盖洛普和马丁内斯两家炼油厂关闭之前的产量水平相同。”Hennigan补充道。

据路透社报道，由于一些周转活动，马拉松石油公司计划在本季度以97%的产能速度运营炼油厂。

瓦莱罗能源第二季度的利用率为94%，预计将以90%至93%的产能运行。

梁金燕 编译自 油价网

原文如下：

U.S. Refiners Undeterred By Recession Fears

U.S. refiners are set to continue operating at high utilization levels in the third quarter, despite concerns that a slowdown in demand could be looming in case of a recession, executives and analysts told Reuters on Thursday.

Refiners operated at near capacity in the second quarter as demand was robust and refining margins were at multi-year highs. This quarter, despite a decline in margins, refiners aim to continue running facilities at close to capacity.

The four-week average refinery utilization at U.S. refineries was at 92.7 percent in the week to August 12, up from 91.6 percent in the same weeks of 2021, the EIA's weekly inventory report showed on Wednesday. Utilization rates in the Gulf Coast were nearly 97% in recent weeks, while refiners on the East Coast operated at above 98% utilization rate, according to the EIA data.

The biggest refiners, including Marathon Petroleum and Valero Energy, plan for high utilization rates, albeit slightly lower from the second quarter, according to executives who spoke to Reuters.

American refiners and oil and gas operators expect strong demand for fuels and energy through the remainder of the year, despite analyst concerns in recent weeks that demand could take a hit with a possible recession or demand destruction. U.S. refiners said during earnings calls in July that there was no indication across their channels that America's fuel demand was weakening. 

"During the second quarter, in order to meet robust customer demand, we ran our refining system at full utilization," Marathon Petroleum's CEO Mike Hennigan said on the earnings call in early August.

"Refining ran at 100% utilization processing approximately 2.9 million barrels of crude per day at our 13 refineries safely and reliably. This is the same level of throughput achieved back in 2019 pre-pandemic before the closures of Gallup and Martinez," Hennigan added.

This quarter, Marathon Petroleum plans to run refineries at 97%, according to Reuters, due to some turnaround activities.

Valero, whose utilization was at 94% in Q2, expects to run at 90% to 93% of capacity.