據今日油價4月9日報道，路透社(Reuters)周四援引知情人士的話稱，燃料需求因封鎖和居家的命令逐漸減少，成品油有限的存儲空間迫使英國石油公司將其在美國的三大煉油廠的運行率降低到80-85%。

據消息人士上周對路透社表示，由于美國消費需求低迷，英國石油已降低了其在印第安納州惠廷日產43萬桶的煉油廠，華盛頓日產24.2萬桶的Cherry Point煉油廠和俄亥俄州托萊多日產15.5萬桶的煉油廠的運行率。

今年3月底，美國各州開始采取措施應對冠狀病毒流行疫情，石油巨頭們開始降低全美的煉油廠運行率。據熟知美國石油巨頭埃克森美孚（ExxonMobil）位于路易斯安那州巴吞魯日日產50.25萬桶的第二大煉油廠運營的知情人士告訴路由社，埃克森美孚已降低該煉油廠的運行率。

盡管汽油價格低廉，但隨著各國應對疫情影響，人們被要求或命令呆在家中，因此美國和世界各地對燃料的需求受到了嚴重打擊。 因城市正處于封鎖中，非必要的業務和服務關閉，人們被要求盡可能在家中工作，在接下來的幾周內，美國的石油需求將持續下降。

與此同時，美國的汽油庫存隨著原油庫存的增加而繼續攀升。 EIA周三表示，根據截至4月3日的最新報告顯示，美國石油庫存激增1,520萬桶，此前一周是自2016年以來最大的石油庫存增長。EIA還報告汽油庫存增加1,050萬桶， 餾分燃料庫存增加47.6萬桶。 而前一周的汽油庫存增加750萬桶，餾分燃料的庫存則減少220萬桶。

郝芬 譯自 今日油價

原文如下：

BP’s U.S. Refineries Cut Run Rates As Demand Crumbles

Limited storage for refined products has forced BP to cut the refinery rates at its three largest refineries in the United States to 80-85 percent as fuel demand is crumbling amid lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, Reuters reported on Thursday, quoting sources with knowledge of the refinery operations.

Sources told Reuters last week that BP has reduced refinery run rates at its 430,000-bpd refinery in Whiting, Indiana, the 242,000-bpd Cherry Point, Washington, refinery, and the 155,000-bpd in Toledo, Ohio, refinery, due to low demand from U.S. consumers.

Oil majors began to reduce refinery run rates across the U.S. at the end of March when states began to take measures to flatten the curve for the number of coronavirus cases. U.S. oil supermajor ExxonMobil has reduced the run rates at its second-largest refinery in the United States, Baton Rouge in Louisiana, after slumping fuel demand filled storage tanks, sources with knowledge of the operations at the 502,500-bpd refinery told Reuters last month.

Despite the low gasoline prices, demand for fuel in the United States, and across the world, is taking a major hit as people are asked or ordered to stay at home as countries grapple with the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Oil demand in the United States is set to tumble over the following weeks, as cities are under lockdown, non-essential businesses and services are closed, and people are asked to work from home wherever possible.

Meanwhile, gasoline inventories in the United States continue to climb, along with crude oil inventory builds. During the latest reporting week, to April 3, U.S. oil inventories swelled by 15.2 million barrels, the EIA said on Wednesday, a week after reporting the largest oil inventory build since 2016. The EIA also reported gasoline inventories had increased by 10.5 million barrels and distillate fuel inventories had added 476,000 barrels. This compared with a gasoline inventory increase of 7.5 million barrels for the previous week and a distillate fuel inventory fall of 2.2 million barrels.