U.S. operable atmospheric distillation capacity dropped to 18.2 million barrels per calendar day on January 1, 2026—down over 250,000 barrels per day, or about 1%, compared with the year before—according to the latest Refinery Capacity Report published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration on June 29, 2026. The decline marks a continuation of the country's shrinking refinery footprint as facilities shut down and existing plants make only modest efficiency gains.
The 2026 report includes 130 operable refineries, two fewer than in 2025. LyondellBasell ended refining operations at its 263,776-barrel-per-calendar-day refinery in Houston in March 2025, and Phillips 66 ceased operations at its 138,700-barrel-per-calendar-day refinery in Los Angeles in October 2025. Combined, the closure of the two facilities represents a reduction in operable U.S. refinery capacity of about 400,000 barrels per day. The loss was partly offset by marginal capacity increases at other existing refineries. The Phillips 66 Los Angeles refinery reflects a relatively small share of total U.S. refinery capacity, but its closure marks a 5% reduction in refinery capacity on the West Coast. Valero's 145,000-barrel-per-day Benicia refinery was still operational as of January 1, 2026, but has also since ceased refining operations, with its capacity removed from monthly estimates as of March 2026.
The report finds that although the LyondellBasell Houston refinery had greater distillation capacity, its closure represented a reduction of only 3% of regional refinery capacity on the U.S. Gulf Coast—a region where more fuel is produced than consumed. Offset by marginal capacity increases at other Gulf Coast refineries, regional capacity decreased by less than 2% in 2025. The three largest refiners in the United States—Marathon, Valero, and ExxonMobil—all reported calendar day capacity increases of less than 1% compared with 2025, changes the report attributes to small-scale process improvements rather than major capacity expansions. Motiva's Port Arthur refinery remains the largest U.S. refinery on a barrels-per-calendar-day basis, at 656,000 barrels per calendar day.
The West Coast closures carry outsized regional impact because relatively little pipeline capacity exists to supply petroleum products from large refinery hubs on the U.S. Gulf Coast to the West Coast. This means reductions in refinery capacity on the West Coast can have a larger impact on fuel availability in the region compared with other regions in the United States. The Gulf Coast, by contrast, produces more fuel than it consumes, cushioning the effect of facility closures there. The report measures capacity two ways: calendar day capacity represents what a distillation unit can process in 24 hours under usual operating conditions, including maintenance downtime, while stream day capacity reflects maximum input when running at full capacity with optimal crude oil and no downtime allowance. Stream day capacity is typically about 6% higher than calendar day capacity.
The 2026 Refinery Capacity Report captures changes in effect as of January 1, 2026, meaning any capacity shifts made since then aren't reflected. With the Benicia refinery already shut down as of March and no major expansions on the horizon—just incremental efficiency tweaks at existing plants—U.S. refining capacity is likely to continue its gradual decline, with the West Coast facing tighter fuel supplies than regions connected to the Gulf Coast's production surplus.