Quality and sourcing of refineries' crude inputs

The substantial shifts in crude production and sourcing patterns by U.S. not only has impacted the volumes of crude processed by refineries over the past several years—it has also impacted crude quality. Higher shares of light-tight oil (LTO) sourced from unconventional reservoirs have made U.S. refineries crude slates much lighter on average, with the processed crudes averaging an API gravity of 32.9 in 2019, the fourth consecutive yearly increase since 2015 and the highest value on record since EIA began compiling this metric in 1985 (see Fig. 4).

Source: EIA, SGS INSPIRE estimates

This increase in the average API gravity (i.e. decrease in density) of crude oil p