Petroleum Refining

Petroleum refining is represented as a conversion from crude oil and lease condensate to refined petroleum products, including gasoline, distillate or diesel fuel, jet fuel, liquefied petroleum gases (LPGs) and petrochemical feedstocks (which can also be produced from natural gas liquids), still gas and petroleum coke (used primarily as refinery fuels), residual fuel oil, asphalt and road oil, and miscellaneous products such as lubricants and waxes. The model does not constrain the mix across products, which is chosen to meet endogenous end-use fuel demands. The inputs to petroleum refining include energy, hydrogen (as a reactant in hydrotreating to reduce the sulfur content of refined products), and fixed and variable operating costs. Although new refining capacity could be added in the US in theory, because the scenarios examined by the US-REGEN fuels module so far all indicate declining demand for petroleum products, refining capacity in the current version of the model is limited to existing facilities.

Coming Soon

Table showing refining inputs and costs.