Refinery yield estimator
Split crude input into gasoline, distillate and other product volumes.
Quick answer: Daily crude input = capacity × utilization, and each product = input × its yield. A 200,000 b/d refinery at 90% runs 180,000 b/d; a 45% gasoline yield makes 81,000 b/d of gasoline.
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Estimate what a refinery makes each day
How to use this calculator
- Enter the refinery’s crude capacity in barrels per day and its utilization rate.
- Enter the gasoline and distillate yields as percentages of crude input.
- Set other products, including any volume gain, then compare the daily product barrels.
At 200,000 barrels/day and 90% utilization, crude input is 180,000 barrels/day. Yields of 45% gasoline, 30% distillate and 28% other products give 81,000, 54,000 and 50,400 barrels/day: 103% of the crude input.
Capacity is not throughput
Capacity is the most crude a refinery can process in a day. Utilization is the share actually running. A 200,000 barrel-per-day plant at 90% utilization processes 180,000 barrels a day.
Why yields can pass 100%
Refining breaks heavy molecules into lighter ones, and lighter products take up more space. This processing gain means product volumes can add up to a little more than the crude that went in.
Gasoline versus distillate
In the United States, gasoline is usually the largest product from a barrel of crude, followed by distillate (diesel and heating oil). Refineries in other regions often make relatively more distillate.
Where to go next
Check current US refinery inputs and utilization in the US oil balance dashboard, compare published plant capacities in the listed oil companies directory, then price the output with the crack-spread calculator.
Questions about this calculation
How much gasoline comes from a barrel of oil?
In the United States, a 42-gallon barrel of crude typically yields about 19 to 20 gallons of gasoline, according to EIA estimates. The exact share depends on the crude and the refinery.
What is refinery utilization?
It is the share of crude distillation capacity that is actually running. Maintenance, outages and weak margins can lower it.
Continue your calculation.
All calculators →Explore oil benchmark prices, the crude quality map, the US oil balance dashboard and our data methodology.