UPDATE 1-ConocoPhillips refineries ran about 80 pct in Q1

(Adds spokesman comment in paragraph 4)

NEW YORK, April 2 (Reuters) - ConocoPhillips (COP.N) said on Thursday its global refining system ran in the low 80 percent range during the first three months of the year amid weak profit margins and a heavy U.S. maintenance schedule.

The company, the world's fifth largest nongovernment controlled refiner with 12 refineries in the United States and five others internationally, said that U.S. utilization rates were about 80 percent and international utilization rates were in the mid-80 percent range.

"The domestic utilization rate is expected to be approximately 80 percent, reflecting significant planned turnaround activity in the U.S. Gulf Coast and East Coast regions," the company said in a filing.

"Our goal is achieve crude utilization rates in the mid-90 percent range, which is consistent with past performance and tends to be higher than rates of our competitors," said Bill Stephens, a spokesman for the company.

Several other refining companies have responded to an economically driven slump in fuel demand by adjusting production lower.

ConocoPhillips has some 2 million barrels of daily crude processing capacity in the United States, making it the second largest U.S. refiner behind Valero Energy Corp (VLO.N). It has another 700,000 bpd of refining capacity internationally. (Reporting by Richard Valdmanis; Additional reporting by Janet McGurty in Toronto; Editing by Marguerita Choy)