United States refiners produced 5 million barrels of base oil in July as this year’s output continued to run ahead of last year but behind 2021 and 2022.
The July total 6% more than the same month of 2023. Base oil exports from the country were down by 5% year to year, while imports were up by 21%.
Through the first seven months of this year, the industry has produced 34.2 million barrels of mineral base oils, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That is higher than the 31.5 million barrels produced during the same period of 2023 but down a bit from the 35.2 million barrels from the corresponding period of 2022 and the 34.8 million barrels from 2021.
This year’s July output included 4.3 million barrels of paraffinic base oils and 712,000 barrels of naphthenics. The former number was up from 4 million barrels in July of last year, while the latter was down from 767,000 barrels.
The country exported 3.4 million barrels of base oils in July, down from 3.6 million barrels year to year. Mexico was by far the biggest destination, receiving 1.6 million barrels, while Brazil, Belgium and Canada came in next at 372,00 barrels, 332,000 barrels and 301,000 barrels.
Imports reached 1.7 million barrels in July, up from 1.4 million. South Korea was the biggest source country, sending 522,000 barrels, while 342,000 barrels came from Qatar and 275,000 barrels from Canada.