The US downstream company Marathon Petroleum has announced the indefinite idling of the 26,000 bbl/d Gallup refinery in New Mexico and the 160,000 bbl/d Martinez refinery in California (United States). The company is evaluating the strategic repositioning of Martinez to a renewable diesel facility. Marathon Petroleum owns and operates 16 refineries with a total capacity of 3 mbl/d and is building a 12,000 bbl/d biorefinery project (Dickinson Renewable Diesel project), which will comply with the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard.
The US has a refining capacity of 18 mb/d, made up of around 120 refineries, 34 of which have a capacity of over 200 000 bbl/d. The increasing production of shale oil has lifted refinery utilisation rates to high levels and has led to increasing oil products exports, despite a 5% decrease in 2019 (9.5%/year on average since 2005 to 209 Mt in 2018).