EIA Form EIA-14 · Refiner acquisition cost of crude oil, monthly, United States
What do US refiners pay for crude oil?
The month ended : of the 3 lines, the change over a year was largest for Domestic, up 28.6%, and smallest for Imported, up 28.0%.
Refiner acquisition cost of crude oil, refiner acquisition cost, each month
- Composite85.6519.32 to 114.44
- Domestic86.6121.07 to 115.90
- Imported83.9316.74 to 112.06
Each row is one line of the page over the last ten years, one month to a point, on a scale shared by the rows of the tab, with its newest value and its range printed beside it and a dashed line at zero. A gap is a month with no value. Pointing at the chart shows the month and the value.
Observed .
Right now
Over a year to August 2026, of the 3 lines on this page the change was largest for Domestic, up 28.6%, and smallest for Imported, up 28.0%.
Of these lines, 3 rose, 0 fell and 0 did not change over the year (ours, from the published values).
By lineOver a year, ours
Refiner acquisition cost of crude oil, change over a year, by line
Each bar is the change in one line over a year, the largest first, with its rank at the left and its newest value under the figure. A line with its own page links it from its name. A change below zero runs to the left of the zero line. The colour says which section of the page a line is in.
Observed .
Refiner acquisition cost of crude oil, change over a year in each month
| Line | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Composite | −8.5 | −14.5 | −13.6 | −16.0 | −19.1 | −12.8 | +24.3 | +50.7 | +65.4 | +29.6 | +20.7 | +28.4 |
| Domestic | −9.5 | −14.9 | −14.0 | −16.3 | −19.4 | −12.3 | +23.7 | +50.7 | +68.5 | +32.4 | +21.7 | +28.6 |
| Imported | −7.1 | −14.0 | −13.4 | −16.1 | −18.7 | −13.6 | +25.7 | +51.1 | +60.2 | +24.3 | +18.7 | +28.0 |
Each chip is one month's change from the same month a year earlier. The mark in its middle is zero: a fill to the right of it is a rise and a fill to the left a fall. A longer, brighter fill is a larger change, in five steps up to 51.1 and over. Every chip prints its figure and sign.
Observed .
Understanding crude oil cost
Where it stands today
The largest change over a year was Domestic, up 28.6%, in August 2026.
What do the lines of this page measure?
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the US Department of Energy asks refiners each month what they paid for the crude oil they bought, and publishes the average as the refiner acquisition cost of crude oil. The figure is in dollars per barrel and includes the transport and other fees the refiner paid. It comes from EIA's own survey of refiners (Form EIA-14), not from a market.
Read more
Three lines: the composite, which is the weighted average of the other two; the domestic cost, for crude oil produced in the United States or on its outer continental shelf; and the imported cost, for crude oil produced elsewhere and brought in.
What 500metrics adds: the change over a year of every line, ranked across the page; the last ten years of every line as rows of small charts; and a table of the change over a year in each of the last twelve months. Each line has a page of its own with the history since the series begins. The import price index of crude oil, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes, has a page of its own.
The numbers behind the chart
What is the latest value of each line?3 lines, in the sections of the page
| Line | Section | Month | Value | Change over a year | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Composite | Refiner acquisition cost | $85.65 | +28.4% | 2 | |
| Domestic | Refiner acquisition cost | $86.61 | +28.6% | 1 | |
| Imported | Refiner acquisition cost | $83.93 | +28.0% | 3 |
The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.
What do these figures leave out, and how are they cited?Limits, dates and how to cite
What this number cannot tell you
- The cost is what refiners paid for the crude oil, with transport and other fees. It leaves out crude oil bought for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It is not the price of oil on any market.
- EIA publishes a month about a month after it ends. The figure for the newest month of the United States is an initial estimate, EIA revises it as late reports come in, and this page shows the newest values.
- Each cost is an average for the whole United States. Refiners pay different prices for different crude oils, and the mix differs by refinery and by region.
- The changes and the ranks are ours, worked out from the values EIA publishes; a change is in percent.
Observed . Checked .
How to cite this
U.S. Energy Information Administration, Refiner Acquisition Cost of Crude Oil, Refiner acquisition cost of crude oil, monthly, United States, through August 2026. Compiled by 500metrics, "What do US refiners pay for crude oil?", https://500metrics.com/crude-oil-cost.
Can the data be downloaded?crude-oil-cost.csv
Download the last ten years of every line as CSV: 363 rows, to , 19,465 bytes.
Our text and compilation: CC BY 4.0.
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