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EIA Form EIA-14 (R0000____3) · Refiner acquisition cost of crude oil, composite, dollars per barrel, monthly

What do US refiners pay for crude oil?

The refiner acquisition cost of crude oil was $85.65 in the month ended , up 28.4% from a year earlier.

Refiner acquisition cost of crude oil, composite, not seasonally adjusted, each month

January 1974 to August 2026Not seasonally adjusted, as published

Refiner acquisition cost of crude oil, composite, not seasonally adjusted, each month (January 1974 to August 2026), recessions shaded
Refiner acquisition cost of crude oil, composite, not seasonally adjusted, each month (August 2016 to August 2026), recessions shaded
Refiner acquisition cost of crude oil, composite, not seasonally adjusted, each month (August 2024 to August 2026)

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to , to , to , to , to .

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .

Refiner acquisition cost of crude oil, composite, change from a year earlier, each month (ours)

January 1974 to August 2026Ours, from the published values

Refiner acquisition cost of crude oil, composite, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (January 1974 to August 2026), recessions shaded
Refiner acquisition cost of crude oil, composite, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (August 2016 to August 2026), recessions shaded
Refiner acquisition cost of crude oil, composite, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (August 2024 to August 2026)

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to , to , to , to , to .

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .

Each point is one month of the series as the source publishes it, or a change worked out from those values (ours). The US recessions are shaded. Pointing at the chart shows the month and the value.

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Inspect and compare dates

The newest month beside the one before it and the nearest ones a year, five and ten years earlier. The last ten years are in the table under "The numbers behind the chart".

MeasureLatestThe month beforeA year earlierFive years earlierTen years earlier
Month
Refiner acquisition cost of crude oil, composite$85.65$83.65$66.73$67.89$42.70
Change over a year+28.4%+20.7%−13.8%+60.0%−5.0%

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

Observed .

Right now

The refiner acquisition cost of crude oil was $85.65 in August 2026, the highest since June 2026.

Over a year it is up 28.4% (ours).

See every month of the last ten years

ChangeOurs

PeriodThenChange
One month$83.65 in +2.4%
Three months$104.62 in −18.1%
Twelve months$66.73 in +28.4%
Five years$67.89 in +26.2%
Ten years$42.70 in +100.6%

In historyOurs

The refiner acquisition cost of crude oil of $85.65 in was higher than in 560 of the 631 other months since , the same in 0 and lower in 71.

Highest since : $129.03 in . Lowest since : $7.46 in .

AverageOurs

Average since : $41.448 (ours, a plain mean of the 632 months).

ComparedOurs

Over a year the refiner acquisition cost of crude oil is up 28.4%, which ranks 2 of the 3 rows of the table, where 1 is the largest change.

The table sets the refiner acquisition cost of crude oil beside the acquisition costs on the crude oil cost page, by the change over a year in each one's newest month.

See every row of the ranking

Understanding the refiner acquisition cost of crude oil

Where it stands today

The refiner acquisition cost of crude oil was $85.65 in August 2026.

What does the refiner acquisition cost of crude oil 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 composite is the weighted average of the domestic and the imported cost, in dollars per barrel. It comes from EIA's own survey of refiners, not from a market.

Read more

What 500metrics adds: the change over one month, three months, a year and five years, the highest and lowest value since the series begins, and how the change over a year compares with the other lines of the crude oil cost page.

The numbers behind the chart

What was the refiner acquisition cost of crude oil in each month?The last ten years, 120 months, newest first; the chart and the file have every month since Jan 1974
Refiner acquisition cost of crude oil, composite, not seasonally adjusted, by month, newest first (US dollars per barrel; the change ours)
MonthValueChange over a year
$85.65+28.4%
$83.65+20.7%
$88.30+29.6%
$104.62+65.4%
$98.52+50.7%
$86.95+24.3%
$63.69−12.8%
$60.60−19.1%
$59.09−16.0%
$61.22−13.6%
$62.40−14.5%
$65.66−8.5%
$66.73−13.8%
$69.30−15.0%
$68.11−15.2%
$63.26−21.6%
$65.38−22.6%
$69.94−12.2%
$73.04−4.1%
$74.93+2.3%
$70.37−2.7%
$70.89−11.1%
$72.95−15.8%
$71.75−19.7%
Show 96 more rows
MonthValueChange over a year
$77.39−5.4%
$81.50+6.7%
$80.28+12.5%
$80.70+11.2%
$84.47+7.6%
$79.67+9.1%
$76.20+1.8%
$73.28−3.2%
$72.34−5.5%
$79.70−5.8%
$86.60−1.6%
$89.32+3.2%
$81.78−14.6%
$76.41−25.7%
$71.39−37.6%
$72.57−34.3%
$78.53−25.4%
$73.00−31.8%
$74.86−17.0%
$75.70−5.7%
$76.56+6.4%
$84.57+7.8%
$88.02+11.7%
$86.57+21.8%
$95.80+41.1%
$102.82+42.8%
$114.44+62.2%
$110.43+69.5%
$105.22+68.6%
$106.98+72.6%
$90.21+54.4%
$80.26+56.2%
$71.98+55.8%
$78.47+92.9%
$78.83+101.0%
$71.10+78.6%
$67.89+60.0%
$71.98+79.6%
$70.55+91.7%
$65.15+176.6%
$62.40+223.0%
$61.97+90.4%
$58.41+13.7%
$51.39−11.3%
$46.20−23.3%
$40.68−29.7%
$39.21−29.8%
$39.81−32.1%
$42.42−25.4%
$40.08−33.8%
$36.80−37.8%
$23.55−63.8%
$19.32−71.0%
$32.55−47.2%
$51.37−10.8%
$57.92+10.8%
$60.27+23.4%
$57.88−1.9%
$55.85−21.3%
$58.60−15.4%
$56.90−15.9%
$60.53−13.9%
$59.16−13.4%
$65.11−5.5%
$66.51+3.3%
$61.64+1.4%
$57.62−6.7%
$52.29−17.3%
$48.83−18.0%
$59.01+2.2%
$70.99+34.8%
$69.29+36.5%
$67.68+40.4%
$70.29+51.9%
$68.35+51.0%
$68.91+42.2%
$64.41+30.2%
$60.81+25.0%
$61.74+20.5%
$63.25+26.5%
$59.53+22.3%
$57.75+31.1%
$52.67+12.4%
$50.78+18.8%
$48.22+12.9%
$46.27+7.0%
$45.25−1.5%
$48.47+13.0%
$49.47+31.2%
$48.65+43.8%
$51.24+79.6%
$49.99+66.7%
$48.66+36.6%
$44.06+6.3%
$46.85+4.6%
$42.73−3.7%
How does it compare with the acquisition costs on the crude oil cost page?Ranked by the change over a year
Refiner acquisition cost of crude oil, composite beside the acquisition costs on the crude oil cost page, newest month of each, by the change over a year (ours); equal changes share a rank
SeriesMonthValueChange over a yearRank
Domestic$86.61+28.6%1
Composite$85.65+28.4%2
Imported$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.
  • The 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, the ranks and the highest and lowest values 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, composite, dollars per barrel, monthly, through August 2026. Compiled by 500metrics, "What do US refiners pay for crude oil?", https://500metrics.com/crude-oil-cost/composite.

Can the data be downloaded?crude-oil-cost-composite.csv

Download the full history as CSV: 632 rows, to , 12,008 bytes.

Our text and compilation: CC BY 4.0.

Recession dates from the National Bureau of Economic Research.

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