Base oil production in the United States fell 19% in February, compared to the same month of 2024.
The nation’s base oil output is running 9% lower than last year through the first two months of the year after production for the full year of 2024 bettered 2023 by 8%.
Base oil exports from the U.S. and imports to the country both experienced a 12% year-to-year drop in February.
One of the world’s two largest base oil supply bases – the other is China – the U.S. produced 3.9 million barrels of base oil in February, according to the latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, down from 4.9 million barrels in the same month of last year.
January’s output of 4.7 million barrels represented a 4% year-to-year improvement. For all of 2024 refiners churned out 58.9 million barrels of base oil, up from 54.5 million barrels for 2023.
Production of paraffinic base oils was 3.4 million barrels in February, a drop of 17%, while output of naphthenic oils fell 29% to 526,000 barrels – the lowest monthly total since 472,000 barrels in March of 2020.
The U.S. is one of the world’s largest base oil exporters, and 4.1 million barrels left the country in February, up from 3.6 million barrels in the same month of 2024. Imports amounted to 837,000 barrels, down from 952,000 barrels.