Why Is There a Decrease of Worldwide Oil-refining?
2022-06-25
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Drivers around the world are feeling pain as fuel prices greatly increase.
2Costs for heating buildings, power generation, and industrial production are also rising sharply.
3Prices were already up before Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
4But since the middle of March, fuel costs have greatly increased while crude prices are only moderately high.
5A big reason for the cost increase is the lack of refining ability to process crude into gasoline and other fuel to meet high worldwide demand.
6Crude oil is oil as it exists in the ground.
7It is not yet ready to be used as fuel.
8Refining oil involves removing unwanted substances so that oil can be used as fuel.
9Information from the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows that the world can refine about 100 million barrels of oil a day.
10A barrel contains 159 liters of oil.
11But almost 20 percent of that is not useable.
12Much of the unusable oil comes from places where there is a lack of investment.
13The refining industry estimates that the world lost a total of 3.3 million barrels worth of daily refining ability since the start of 2020.
14About a third of these losses happened in the United States, with the rest in Russia, China, and Europe, the experts say.
15Fuel demand crashed early in the pandemic.
16Before that, oil refining ability had not fallen in any year for at least 30.
17However, global refining ability is set to expand by 1 million barrels per day in 2022 and 1.6 million barrels per day in 2023.
18In April, 78 million barrels were processed each day.
19That is down from the pre-pandemic average of 82.1 million barrels per day.
20The IEA expects refining to rise during the summer to 81.9 million barrels per day, when Chinese refiners return to normal operations.
21The United States, China, Russia, and Europe are all operating refineries at a lower ability than before the pandemic.
22Nearly 30 percent of Russia's processing ability was stopped in May, sources told Reuters.
23Many Western nations are not accepting Russian fuel.
24The cost to carry products on ships overseas has risen because of high demand around the world and sanctions on Russian ships.
25In Europe, refineries are limited by high prices for natural gas, which powers their operations.
26Refiners that export a lot of fuel to other countries, such as U.S. refiners, are benefiting from the current situation.
27World fuel shortages have increased refining profit margins to historic highs.
28Companies like U.S.-based Valero and India-based Reliance Industries have seen large profits.
29The IEA said India, which refines more than 5 million barrels per day, has been importing cheap Russian crude for in-country use and export.
30I'm Caty Weaver.
1Drivers around the world are feeling pain as fuel prices greatly increase. Costs for heating buildings, power generation, and industrial production are also rising sharply. 2Prices were already up before Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. But since the middle of March, fuel costs have greatly increased while crude prices are only moderately high. 3A big reason for the cost increase is the lack of refining ability to process crude into gasoline and other fuel to meet high worldwide demand. 4Crude oil is oil as it exists in the ground. It is not yet ready to be used as fuel. Refining oil involves removing unwanted substances so that oil can be used as fuel. 5Production per day 6Information from the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows that the world can refine about 100 million barrels of oil a day. A barrel contains 159 liters of oil. 7But almost 20 percent of that is not useable. Much of the unusable oil comes from places where there is a lack of investment. 8Refineries 9The refining industry estimates that the world lost a total of 3.3 million barrels worth of daily refining ability since the start of 2020. 10About a third of these losses happened in the United States, with the rest in Russia, China, and Europe, the experts say. Fuel demand crashed early in the pandemic. Before that, oil refining ability had not fallen in any year for at least 30. 11However, global refining ability is set to expand by 1 million barrels per day in 2022 and 1.6 million barrels per day in 2023. 12In April, 78 million barrels were processed each day. That is down from the pre-pandemic average of 82.1 million barrels per day. 13The IEA expects refining to rise during the summer to 81.9 million barrels per day, when Chinese refiners return to normal operations. 14The United States, China, Russia, and Europe are all operating refineries at a lower ability than before the pandemic. Nearly 30 percent of Russia's processing ability was stopped in May, sources told Reuters. Many Western nations are not accepting Russian fuel. 15Other reasons for high prices 16The cost to carry products on ships overseas has risen because of high demand around the world and sanctions on Russian ships. In Europe, refineries are limited by high prices for natural gas, which powers their operations. 17Who benefits 18Refiners that export a lot of fuel to other countries, such as U.S. refiners, are benefiting from the current situation. World fuel shortages have increased refining profit margins to historic highs. Companies like U.S.-based Valero and India-based Reliance Industries have seen large profits. 19The IEA said India, which refines more than 5 million barrels per day, has been importing cheap Russian crude for in-country use and export. 20I'm Caty Weaver. 21Laura Sanicola reported this story for Reuters. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English. 22_______________________________________________________________________ 23Words in This Story 24crude - n. oil as it exists in the ground: petroleum that is not yet ready to be used as fuel 25refine - v. to remove the unwanted substances in (something) 26barrel - n. the amount of something in a barrel 27global - adj. involving the entire world 28sanction - n. an action taken to force a country to obey international laws by limiting trade or aid to the country 29benefit - v. to be useful or helpful to (someone or something) 30margin - n. the difference between the cost of buying or making something and the price at which it is sold 31We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.