Energy Information Administration weekly petroleum supply and demand data released on Wednesday suggests U.S. fuel retailers may have stocked up on products to try to get ahead of sharp price increases that followed the U.S. and Israeli attacks against Iran.

EIA reported solid increases in both implied gasoline and distillate demand in the week ended Friday.

The agency said gasoline products supplied to the market, its proxy for demand, rose last week by 949,000 b/d, or more than 11%, to 9.241 million b/d. That was the highest weekly reading since mid-June and the first time since November that demand has surpassed 9 million b/d. It was also above the comparable weeks of 2024 and 2025.

EIA also estimated that distillate products supplied to the market last week rose by 367,000 b/d, or nearly 10%, to 4.065 million b/d, the highest number in three weeks and the seventh-highest reading since mid-August. In addition, it was more than 4% above the year-ago number and 20% higher than in the comparable week of 2024.

The strong demand dropped U.S. gasoline stocks by 3.7 million bbl to 249.5 million bbl, leaving holdings about 5% above the five-year average and up 8.4 million bbl year to year. Supplies fell in all regions except the East Coast (PADD 1). Gulf Coast (PADD 3) inventories fell 2.1 million bbl and Midwest (PADD 2) stocks declined by 1.1 million bbl.

The agency estimated distillate inventories fell by 1.3 million bbl, putting them about 2% below the five-year average, but 1.8 million bbl above where they were in the same week of last year. Much of the drop in distillate holdings came in PADD 3, where EIA had stocks dropping last week by 1.6 million bbl to 46.4 million bbl. Still, distillate stocks in the region are about 8 million bbl above the year-ago level.

U.S. gasoline imports rose last week by 104,000 b/d to 542,000 b/d, but were below levels reported for the comparable weeks of 2024 and 2025. Most of the increase came on the West Coast (PADD 5), where gasoline imports jumped to an average of averaged 189,000 b/d from 22,000 b/d in the previous week.

The agency estimated U.S. gasoline exports fell last week by 187,000 b/d to 880,000 b/d.

Distillate exports rose by 23,000 b/d to 1.251 million b/d. Over the last four weeks, exports have averaged 1.174 million b/d, more than 21% above the same period of 2025.

U.S. refinery activity continued to ramp up during the week, with gross inputs increasing by 287,000 b/d last week to 16.37 million b/d, up about 3% year to year. U.S. refineries ran at 90.8% of capacity, up from 89.2% in the previous week. With inputs at their highest level since January, it's a further indication that seasonal maintenance activities are winding down.

Refinery gasoline production averaged 9.624 million b/d, up 500,000 b/d from the previous week and nearly 400,000 b/d higher than a year earlier.

Distillate production also rose, climbing by 132,000 b/d to 4.944 million b/d, according to EIA. With distillate demand strong and refining margins high, refiners during the week produced about 11% more distillate than they did at the same time last year.

Despite the increase in refinery activity, U.S. crude inventories excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose last week by 3.8 million bbl to 443.1 million bbl. With the war in Iran raising concerns over oil supply, U.S. inventories ended last week about 2% below the five-year average and about 7.9 million bbl above the where they were a year ago.

EIA also estimated U.S. crude production remained strong last week at an average of 13.678 million b/d, down 18,000 b/d from the previous week, but 103,000 b/d higher than year-ago output.

Commercial crude imports rose by 98,000 b/d from the previous week to 6.422 million b/d, with imports into the Midwest increased by 102,000 b/d. Crude exports fell by 563,000 b/d to 3.434 million b/d, EIA said.


This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.


Reporting by Steven Cronin, scronin@opisnet.com; Editing by Jeffrey Barber, jbarber@opisnet.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-11-26 1522ET