Present Position of the Western Axis Oil Refining Industry. Report by the J.I.C.

7. After deducting the immobilized capacity noted above, the remaining refineries are sufficient to handle 10,895,000 tons of crude oil per year, and the production of this latter is currently estimated at 8,810,000 tons per year (rate on 1 December 1943). That the resulting excess refinery capacity of 2,085,000 tone is precariously small is evinced by the fact that the attack on Ploesti alone put out of operation nearly 4,000,000 tons of refining capacity. 8. Because of the current close balance between crude oil production and refining facilities, the Western Axis refinery industry possesses a temporary and exceptional vulnerability in that any destruction of plant over and above the existing surplus of 2,085,000 tons will be essentially equivalent to a destruction of supplies.