US Refinery Utilization
The share of US operable refining capacity actually processing crude in the survey week, from the EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report. Operable capacity is the denominator, so the number reflects both how busy the fleet is and how much of it exists: when a refinery closes, capacity falls and utilization can rise with no change in throughput. Weekly since November 1990.
Utilization (% of operable capacity)
Next release: ≈ Aug 26, 2026
Latest reading
As of August 14, 2026, Refinery Utilization (Utilization (% of operable capacity)) stands at 97.2% — up from 96.2% the prior reading, 3.3 pp below the August 28, 1998 record of 100.5%. Refineries cannot run flat out forever — turnarounds, weather and outages keep the fleet in the low-to-mid 90s at its seasonal peak, with dips to the 80s in spring and fall maintenance. Readings above 95% are rare and mean the system has almost no spare capacity, so any outage flows straight into product prices and the crack spread. Utilization in the 80s during summer signals either weak demand or forced outages (hurricanes, 2020). Note the closure effect: a smaller denominator lifts the ratio, so a record-high reading in a shrinking fleet says as much about capacity that left as about demand. Series history runs from 1990 to present.
Sources, methodology & freshnessLast updated 2026-08-21 · Open ↓Close ↑
Full history
Methodology & data
Refinery Utilization is sourced from EIA directly from the publisher’s own dataset (EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPULEUS3), weekly, percent; release date estimated as the Wednesday after each survey week). We pull the complete history, chart it on a weekly basis, overlay SPY for context, and generate a dated plain-English reading from the latest release — with no smoothing or adjustment beyond what the chart legend states.
Every reading is stamped with its release date, last updated 2026-08-21. Maintained and reviewed by Yuriy Matso; see our methodology for the standards every series on the site is held to.
Frequently asked questions
What is the US Refinery Utilization?
The share of US operable refining capacity actually processing crude in the survey week, from the EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report. Operable capacity is the denominator, so the number reflects both how busy the fleet is and how much of it exists: when a refinery closes, capacity falls and utilization can rise with no change in throughput. Weekly since November 1990.
How do you read Refinery Utilization?
Refineries cannot run flat out forever — turnarounds, weather and outages keep the fleet in the low-to-mid 90s at its seasonal peak, with dips to the 80s in spring and fall maintenance. Readings above 95% are rare and mean the system has almost no spare capacity, so any outage flows straight into product prices and the crack spread. Utilization in the 80s during summer signals either weak demand or forced outages (hurricanes, 2020). Note the closure effect: a smaller denominator lifts the ratio, so a record-high reading in a shrinking fleet says as much about capacity that left as about demand.
Where does the Refinery Utilization data come from?
EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPULEUS3), weekly, percent; release date estimated as the Wednesday after each survey week. We chart the full history and publish a dated, plain-English reading with every release; the raw series is downloadable as CSV at /data/indicators/refinery-utilization.csv.
How often is Refinery Utilization updated?
Refinery Utilization is a weekly series from EIA, refreshed here as soon as a new release posts from EIA.
Utilization (% of operable capacity)
Next release: ≈ Aug 26, 2026