Weather disruptions and deferrals tee up major US refinery maintenance season

A common theme has arisen from the recent wave of earnings calls over the past few weeks, as oil majors and independent refiners alike have warned of a heavy US maintenance period to start the year. For many refiners, H1 2023 is a chance to catch-up on much needed regular maintenance as numerous refiners deferred larger maintenance projects in recent years due to Covid and historic margins. The 2023 spring turnaround season is expected to be the most active spring turnaround period since 2019, according to Wood Mackenzie’s tracking, as many refiners look to get caught up and return to a more regular maintenance schedule. In this report, we discuss our expectations for the 2023 US spring refinery turnaround season, including how it will compare to previous years, what regions will be particularly affected, and what impacts we expect for crude and refined products.