U.S. oil refineries expand inventory to 85-year high

U.S. oil refineries are preparing to process the most oil ever recorded to keep a staggering supply from overflowing storage capacities, according to Bloomberg Business.

A boom in crude oil production has expanded inventories by over 100,000 barrels a day since last summer, when refineries processed the most oil on record. Now, U.S. refinery inventories total 471 million barrels – the highest level since 1930.

U.S. output of crude oil has increased 71 percent in the past five years as the use of new methods such as hydraulic fracturing tapped into previously inaccessible deposits. Refiners processed 16.5 million barrels a day last July, the highest monthly level since 1961, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Refining margins last month averaged $28.09 a barrel, the highest since March 2013.

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