美国炼油商们扩大炼油能力以加工更多页岩油

中国石化新闻网讯 据路透社休斯敦11月2日消息，随着美国石油产量的增长，今年几乎每个月的平均日产量都创出历史新高，美国炼油商们正在扩大加工能力，以便加工更多的原油，赚取更多的利润。

据美国能源信息署（EIA）的数据显示，通过使用更加高效的设备和运营更大的炼油厂，今年初美国国内135座炼油厂的合计炼油能力达到1860万桶/日，比1985年时1570万桶/日的炼油能力增长16%，而且当时美国的炼油厂数量为223座。

债务评级机构穆迪投资者服务公司高级分析师Arvinder Saluja周四在一份报告中写道，美国炼油扩能带来的新产品需求将导致炼厂利用率上升，馏分油价格上升，炼厂利润率普遍上升。

EIA称，今年8月初美国炼厂利用率或产能利用率触及98%的纪录高位。

美国页岩油和加拿大重油的产量增加和充足供应已经令今年美国炼油商获利颇丰。截至今年9月，美国炼油商菲利浦斯66公司的利润达到19.4亿美元，较上年同期增长87%。瓦莱罗能源公司的炼油业务实现营业利润36.4亿美元，增长21%。

正如页岩油生产商增加出口量一样，将原油转化为低硫燃料的美国炼油商明年应该能够推动船舶燃料的出口，并提高利润。穆迪投资者服务公司的Saluja表示，来自于船舶燃料销售的利润至少在2022年前仍将保持强劲

2012年至2017年，美国国内炼制的成品油出口量增加了77.2万桶/日达到279万桶/日。

合并也提升了美国炼油企业的前景。今年10月份美国第二大炼油商马拉松石油公司收购了第五大炼油商Andeavor，部分原因是为了获得Andeavor公司加工页岩油的能力，以及其在墨西哥的零售汽油网络

张春晓摘译自 路透社

原文如下：

US refiners boost processing capacity to accommodate shale

As U.S. oil production rises - setting records in average daily output nearly every month this year - the companies that convert crude to diesel and gasoline are increasing their ability to consume more crude and generate higher profits.

Using more efficient equipment and running bigger plants at peak speeds, the combined capacity of nation's 135 refineries was 18.6 million barrels per day (bpd) at the start of the year, up 16 percent over the 15.7 million bpd in 1985, when there were 223 refineries, according to Energy Information Administration data.

Demand for new products coming from these expansions "will lead to higher refinery utilization, higher distillate prices and higher refinery margins generally," Arvinder Saluja, a senior analyst at debt ratings firm Moody's Investors Service, wrote in a report on Thursday.

U.S. refinery utilization, or how much of the capacity is being used, hit a record 98 percent in early August, the EIA said.

This year, high production and ample supplies of shale and heavy Canadian oil have made U.S. refiners very profitable. Refining income this year through September at Phillips 66 was $1.94 billion, up 87 percent from the year earlier. Valero Energy's refining business posted an operating profit of $3.64 billion, up 21 percent.

Just as shale producers are exporting more, U.S. refiners which convert crude into low-sulfur fuels should be able to drive exports of marine fuel and profits higher next year. Earning from such sales can remain strong through "at least 2022," Moody's Saluja said.

Between 2012 and 2017, exports of finished U.S. refined products climbed by 772,000 bpd to 2.79 million bpd.

Consolidation is also lifting refiners' outlooks. Last month, second-largest refiner Marathon Petroleum Corp acquired fifth-largest Andeavor in part to gain Andeavor's ability to process shale and because of its retail gasoline network in Mexico.