Lyondellbasell Industries N V 's

Our refining competitors are major integrated oil companies, refineries owned or controlled by foreign governments and independent domestic refiners. Based on published data, there were 143 operable crude oil refineries in the U.S., and total U.S. refinery capacity was approximately 17.8 million barrels per day. The Houston refinery processed an average of approximately 232,000 barrels per day of crude oil, representing approximately 1.3% of all U.S. crude processing capacity.

Our refining operations compete for the purchases of crude oil based on price and quality. Supply disruptions could impact the availability and pricing. We compete in gasoline and distillate markets as a bulk supplier of fungible products satisfying industry and government specifications. Competition is based on price and location.
The markets for fuel products tend to be volatile as well as cyclical as a result of the changing global economy and changing crude oil and refined product prices. Crude oil prices are impacted by worldwide political events, the economics of exploration and production and refined products demand. Prices and demand for fuel products are influenced by seasonal and short-term factors such as weather and driving patterns, as well as by longer term issues such as the economy, energy conservation and alternative fuels. Industry fuel products supply is dependent on short-term industry operating capabilities and on long-term refining capacity.

A crack spread is a benchmark indication of refining margins based on the processing of a specific type of crude oil into an assumed selection of refined products. The Houston refinery generally tracks the Maya 2-1-1 crack spread, which represents the difference between the first month futures price of two barrels of Maya crude oil as set by Pemex and one barrel each of U.S. Gulf Coast 87 Octane Conventional Gasoline and U.S. Gulf Coast Ultralow-sulfur Diesel (“ULSD”). While these benchmark refining spreads are generally indicative of the level of profitability at the Houston refinery and similarly configured refineries, there are many other factors specific to each refinery and the industry in general, such as the cost of Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) and the value of by-products, which influence operating results.