The supply and distribution system is called upon to work flawlessly, each day, every day, though the context of market conditions changes constantly. I will elaborate on these later in my testimony. Every day more than 60 million barrels of crude oil are produced and shipped around the world, with approximately eight million barrels landing in the U.S., which depends on imports for nearly 60 percent of its crude oil needs. At 18 miles an hour, the trip from the Persian Gulf takes 45 days. Pipelines transport crude oil to refineries, a process that takes ten days on average.
Refineries then manufacture gasoline, diesel, asphalt, petrochemicals and other products.
The refining process takes roughly five days on average. Products also move along the nation's inland waterways. This step alone, including the hauling by transport truck to service stations, adds 10 to 15 days to the entire process. This means that about 1 to 2 months of detailed planning and adjustments are required so that our customers have the fuel to fill their vehicles when they pull into our service stations. As a major petroleum refiner, Marathon Ashland refines nearly one million barrels of crude oil per day, including a significant portion from the national oil companies of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Mexico.