The United States produced 5.2 million barrels of base oil in October, a 4% increase from the same month in 2020 and just shy of the October 2019 total, according to the latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Agency. It was the first month since April that base oil volume was below the 5.4 million barrels mark.
The base oil production volume in October was down 5% from September’s production.
Year-to-date through October, the nation’s base oil production totaled 51.1 million barrels, rising 14% from 44.9 million barrels during the same period last year and edging 1% ahead of the 50.7 million barrels mark for the first 10 months of 2019.
October production of paraffinic base oils in the U.S. totaled 4.5 million barrels, a 5% increase and also up 4% from October 2019. The October total, the lowest since 4.2 million barrels in April, was down 4% from 4.7 million barrels in September.
Year-to-date through October, paraffinic base oil production reached 42.1 million barrels, a 10% increase from the same period in 2020 and just 2% shy of 43.1 million barrels in the same 10-month period in 2019.
U.S. refiners made 721,000 barrels of naphthenic base oils in October, a 5% decline from 759,000 barrels in the same month last year, and 25% below the 759,000 barrels mark in October 2019. The October total, which is the lowest total for a month this year, was also down 12% from September. Through the first 10 months of the year, naphthenic base oil production rebounded to 8 million barrels, a 20% increase from the same period in 2020 and 7% below the total for the first 10 months of 2019.