HOUSTON, June 14 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil refining

capacity fell 4% to 17.53 million barrels per day (bpd) this

year, a government report showed on Friday amid plant closures

and conversions to biofuels.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said the figures

reflect capacity online as of Jan. 1, and the drop came despite

the startup last year of a major expansion to Exxon Mobil's ( XOM )

Beaumont, Texas, refinery.

Oil processing capacity at the start of 2024 was more than a

million barrels below the 2019 peak of 18.98 million bpd, which

came before a wave of plant closures and conversions during the

COVID-19 pandemic.

Refiners process crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel

and other products.

Marathon Petroleum Corp ( MPC ) remained the largest refiner

in the United States, able to process up to 2.95 million bpd, or

16.8% of the country's total, at its 13 U.S. plants, the EIA

report showed.

Valero Energy Corp ( VLO ) was the second-largest U.S.

refiner by volume with its 2.21 million bpd capacity equal to

about 12.6% of the total.

Exxon was third largest with nearly 1.95 million bpd after a

$2 billion expansion to its Beaumont, Texas, facility came

online in spring, 2023, raising that facility's processing

capacity to 609,000 bpd.