US Refiners Pushing Run Rates

US crude inputs are showing a response towards tight domestic product inventories, jumping to 16.3mn bpd last week, 334,000 bpd higher than the week prior and the highest weekly pace since late June last year when refiners required gasoline and diesel but not jet – now they want all three.

• US refinery utilisation climbed to 93.2% last week, up from 91.8% the week prior and the highest rate of utilisation since early 2020 – before the pandemic struck.
• Looking at product production, refiners have been leaning towards diesel rather than gasoline. Distillate fuel production surged last week by 267,000 bpd or 5.5% to 5.147 million bpd -- the highest weekly output rate since the first two weeks of 2020 before the pandemic. Gasoline production eased 151,000 bpd or 1.6% to a seven-week low of 9.423 million bpd despite tight inventories ahead of the summer driving season.