Statistical Analysis The data, gathered and reviewed by a team of experts from across the downstream oil sector, provides readers with a high-level overview of key metrics from the sector.
Coronavirus: Due to the coronavirus pandemic and restrictions imposed to control the spread of the virus, demand for nearly all downstream oil sector products decreased substantially in both 2020 and 2021. The effects of the decreased demand, and therefore decreased production and sales, can be seen throughout this report. Environment: The environment remains an important factor in the UK downstream oil sector’s consideration, and the refining sector alone reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 24% since 2000. In 2020, as was the case in 2019, the UK’s overall GHG emissions basket was below both the Kyoto Protocol and Third Carbon Budget targets. Low Carbon Fuels: The UK has the greatest number of operational downstream oil sector low carbon liquid fuel or technology projects in Europe – equal only to France (Fuels Europe 2022). A high renewable transport fuel blending target (9.75% in 2020, but increasing to 10.1% in 2021 and 10.4% in 2022) has supported the development of the UK low carbon fuels industry, with the share of domestically sourced carbon fuels increasing from 11% to 13% in 2020 over 2019. With greater opportunities for double-counting through the use of waste-derived fuels, biodiesel remains the primary low carbon fuel, accounting for 74% biofuel deliveries in 2020.
Refineries: By refining capacity, the UK has the 5th largest refining sector in Europe (Fuels Europe 2022). Proportionally, UK refineries are producing much less jet fuel than before the pandemic – 4% in 2020 and 2021 compared to 9% in 2019. Petrol and diesel production have both increased slightly as a proportion of total refinery output as a consequence of continued decreased jet fuel demand. Mobility: The composition of the UK’s car fleet has continued to change as sales of hybrid and other alternative propulsion cars continued to increase while sales of internal combustion propulsion cars fell or stagnated. In 2021, for the first time, sales of new battery-only and diesel cars represented the same proportion of overall new car registrations – 11.5% of sales – in Great Britain. However, ICE propulsion vehicles still make up 65% of new sales and 95% of all cars.
5 | Statistical Review | 2022
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