EIA: U.S. Crude, Fuel Stocks Build Amid Refining Uptick


   
Karim Bastati
DTN Refined Fuels Market Reporter

   VIENNA (DTN) -- The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported 
across-the-board inventory builds in their latest weekly report published 
Wednesday (11/26). Commercial crude oil inventories expanded by 2.8 million 
barrels in the week ending November 21, and gasoline and distillate fuel 
inventories grew 2.5 million bbl, and 1 million bpd, respectively.

   Middle distillate inventories remained well below historical averages as a 
globally tight diesel market continues to pull diesel barrels to the export 
market. EIA reported 1.67 million bbl distillate fuel exports last week, 
compared to 1.09 million bbl in the same reference week in 2024.

   While refiners ran some 211,000 bpd more crude oi than in the week prior, a 
jump in imports, and higher-than-expected domestic production, led to swelling 
crude oil stockpiles.

   On the four-week average, both gasoline and distillate fuel oil supplied, 
proxy measures for fuel demand, were in line with year-ago levels. Stagnant 
demand growth amid higher exports, however, kept distillate fuel oil 
inventories at an unusually low level.

   EIA's adjustment factor slipped into positive territory, reflecting the 
upward adjustment to domestic crude oil production, whose growth most 
forecasters severely underestimated throughout 2025.

   Weekly product supplied data suggest that international, and not domestic, 
demand kept inventories historically suppressed. Total products supplied, a 
proxy for fuel demand, clocked in at 20.38 million bpd, close to the average 
pace observed in the comparable time span in 2024.

   Gasoline and diesel consumption were flat on the four-week average, and jet 
fuel consumption, the often-hailed saving grace for the petroleum fuel 
industry, was down 4.7% year-on-year.

   Distillate fuel oil stocks, which in the first half of the year remained far 
below long-term averages, narrowed the gap to year-ago levels to 2.2%




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