據烴加工網站7月2日消息 在最緊張的禁售期，面對前所未有的汽油消費量暴跌，美國煉油廠的應對措施是大幅削減原油進口量，并限制用于提高汽油產量的轉化過程。

但在緊急情況下實施的異常操作變化給煉油廠帶來了柴油過剩的問題，這仍在拖累全球柴油價格，并將在未來幾個月內被淘汰。

美國能源信息署周二發表的《石油供應月刊》首次披露了此次沖擊的規模以及煉油廠為應對危機而進行的工藝調整。

所有三種主要燃料的消費量在4月份大幅下降，但受影響最大的是噴氣燃料（與去年同期相比下降了61%）和汽油（37%），而餾分燃料油（12%）的消費量則要小得多。

面對汽油需求的急劇下降，煉油廠將原油和其他投入到蒸餾裝置中的產量削減到其最大產能的70%，而一年前這一比例幾乎是89%。

更為重要的是，他們大幅削減了進入下游轉化裝置（包括催化裂化裝置和重整裝置）的半精煉蒸餾油流量，這些裝置通常會將更多燃料油升級為汽油和噴氣燃料。

4月份，他們的催化裂化裝置的開工率僅為其產能的59%，而去年同期為81%。加氫裂化裝置的使用率從71%下降到56%；催化重整從80%下降到61%。

吳恒磊 編譯自 烴加工

原文如下：

U.S. refiners slashed gasoline output in response to lockdown

Faced with an unprecedented collapse in gasoline consumption during the most intense period of lockdown, U.S. refiners responded by slashing crude intake and curbing conversion processes used to boost gasoline yields.

But the extraordinary operating changes introduced during the emergency left refiners with a legacy of too much diesel, which is still weighing down diesel prices worldwide, and will have to be eliminated over the next few months.

The scale of the shock and the shift in refinery processes to cope with it were revealed for the first time on Tuesday with the publication of “Petroleum Supply Monthly” by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Consumption of all three major fuels fell sharply in April, the most recent month for which data is available, but the hit was greatest for jet (down 61% compared with a year earlier) and gasoline (37%) and much smaller for distillate fuel oil (12%).

Faced with a collapse in the demand for gasoline, refineries cut the volume of crude and other inputs fed into their distillation units to just 70% of their maximum capacity compared with almost 89% a year earlier.

More importantly, they slashed the flow of semi-refined distilled oil into downstream conversion units, including catalytic crackers and reformers, that would normally upgrade more fuel oil into gasoline and jet fuel.

In April, their catalytic crackers were operated at just 59% of their capacity compared with 81% a year earlier. Hydrocracker usage was down to 56% from 71%. And catalytic reformers were down to 61% from 80%.