Tanker rates increase as a result of geopolitical instability and bunker fuel costs (5/18/2022)

Petroleum product tanker rates for routes originating in Europe rose to record highs in April 2022. Petroleum tankers are generally classified into two groups: “clean” tankers and “dirty” tankers. Clean tankers carry lower-sulfur petroleum products, including refined petroleum products such as motor gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, and naphtha. Dirty...

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High crack spreads to drive elevated U.S. refinery utilization through the summer (5/11/2022)

In our May 2022 Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), we forecast that U.S. refinery utilization will reach as high as 95% on a monthly average basis this summer in response to high product prices and crack spreads for gasoline, distillate fuel oil, and jet fuel. Crack spreads are the difference between the price of crude oil and the wholesale price of...

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East Coast jet fuel prices decline from record highs but remain higher than other hubs (5/4/2022)

The spot jet fuel price in New York Harbor (NYH) traded at record-high levels for several weeks in April. On April 4, 2022, the NYH spot price was $7.61 per gallon (gal). The price has since declined, but it has remained at elevated levels (Figure 1). The NYH spot price is significantly higher than spot prices at both the U.S. Gulf Coast (USGC) and...

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U.S. oil producers may be facing supply chain issues as they increase capital expenditure (4/27/2022)

With higher crude oil prices, financial results for 42 U.S. exploration and production (E and P) companies showed large increases in both cash from operations and capital expenditure in the fourth quarter of 2021 (4Q21). However, despite more capital expenditures, production has not substantially increased. Production is less responsive for several...

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China processed record amounts of crude oil in 2021 but exported less gasoline and diesel (4/20/2022)

To meet rising domestic consumption of petroleum products, China processed record amounts of crude oil in 2021, processing especially high levels in the first half of the year. In the second half of the year, however, China processed less crude oil and began exporting significantly less gasoline and diesel than in the first half of the year to ensure...

Apr 2022

Summer 2022 U.S. gasoline consumption expected to increase but remain below 2019 pre-pandemic levels (4/13/2022)

In our April 2022 Summer Fuels Outlook, we expect the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic to have less impact on the consumption of gasoline and diesel in the United States during the 2022 summer season (April through September) than the past two summers. We expect both prices and consumption of gasoline and diesel in the summer of 2022 to increase...

Apr 2022

Changes in prime supplier sales of motor gasoline since 2020 differ significantly by state (4/6/2022)

Based on our Prime Supplier Report, U.S. motor gasoline sales by prime suppliers averaged 8.3 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2021, which was 5% less than the 2015–19 average. The difference between the 2015–19 average and the 2021 average is narrower than it was in 2020, which was 13% lower than the 2015–19 average. The smaller difference in 2021...

Apr 2022

Small reduction in net U.S. petroleum product exports during 2021 driven by distillate and gasoline (3/30/2022)

U.S. imports of petroleum products increased more than exports of petroleum products in 2021, resulting in a slight reduction in the net exports (exports minus imports) of U.S. petroleum product compared with 2020 (Figure 1). U.S. petroleum product exports averaged 5.7 million barrels per day (b/d) during 2021, an increase of 360,000 b/d compared with...

Mar 2022

U.S. ethane consumption growth to outpace growth in all other petroleum products through 2023 (3/23/2022)

U.S. ethane consumption has grown every year since 2008, outpacing consumption growth for all other petroleum products. Ethane consumption, which we report as product supplied, grew by 50,000 barrels per day (b/d) in 2021, according to preliminary data from our February 2022 Petroleum Supply Monthly. We forecast in our March 2022 Short Term Energy Outlook...

Mar 2022

Retail gasoline and diesel prices increase significantly following Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine (3/16/2022)

etail prices for gasoline and diesel have increased significantly following the start of Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine on February 24. The average U.S. regular retail gasoline price across all formulations (conventional and reformulated) increased 22% from $3.53 per gallon (gal) on February 21 to $4.32/gal on March 14. During the same three-week...

Mar 2022