Petroleum refining in the United States

Petroleum refining in the United States in 2024 had a capacity of 18.4 million barrels per day.

When the Drake Well started producing in 1859, the oil shale industry was growing rapidly, and establishing refineries near cannel coal deposits along the Ohio River Valley.

A market developed for fuel oil as it was discovered that petroleum was superior to coal in powering the large engines of ships and railroad locomotives.

The shortage was solved by the invention of fluid catalytic cracking, which broke long hydrocarbon chains into smaller molecules.

[14] At this point, nearly all road and industrial fuels produced in the US have been substantially desulfurized to levels of 15 parts per million or less.

The United States was for decades, through 2008, the world's largest net importer of refined petroleum products.

[15] The largest net importers of US refined products in 2017 were, in descending order: Mexico, Brazil, Japan, China, and Singapore.

[20] Refineries have been responsible for air, water, and soil pollution in the United States.

Refineries have paid millions of dollars in settlements and fines for violations of environmental laws.