Where Are The Nation’s Refineries Located?

According to Wikipedia, “a refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value.” There are several types of refineries including natural gas processing plants, which purify and convert raw natural gas into residential, commercial and industrial fuel gas, and metal refineries for processing alumina, copper, gold, lead, nickel, silver, uranium, zinc, magnesium and cobalt.

But the refineries that matter most in the insulation business are those for petroleum, which convert crude oil into high-octane motor fuel (gasoline) diesel oil, liquefied petroleum gases (LPG), jet aircraft fuel, kerosene, heating fuel oils, lubricating oils, asphalt and petroleum coke.

There are 139 operating petroleum refineries in the U.S., and they process an aggregate 17,700230 barrels of crude per day (a barrel equals 42 U.S. gallons or 159 liters). There are petroleum refineries in 33 states, and unsurprisingly the state with the greatest number is Texas with 29, followed by California with 17 and Louisiana with 16. Since insulation professionals have a large stake in servicing the refinery industry, knowing where they’re located is useful knowledge. Here is a chart that shows where they are.