US diesel inventories fall to lowest seasonal level on record

US diesel inventories fell to their lowest ever recorded for this time of year, raising concerns about tightening supplies ahead of the fall agricultural and winter heating seasons, according to data released Wednesday by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Stocks of distillate fuel oil, a category that primarily includes diesel and heating oil, declined by 2.2 million barrels, or 2.1%, to 103.4 million barrels for the week ending Aug. 21.

The level was about 14% below the five-year seasonal average, and 9.5% lower than the 114.2 million barrels during the corresponding week last year.

Historical EIA data dating to August 1982 showed that inventories had never previously been this low at this point of the year.

The figure, however, was not an all-time absolute low. Distillate stocks fell to 100.8 million barrels in late May before briefly recovering in June and July.

The latest decline came despite US refineries operating at 97.4% of their capacity. Distillate production averaged around 5.1 million barrels per day last week, down from the previous period.

US distillate exports, meanwhile, rose to 1.79 million barrels per day from 1.6 million barrels a week earlier. Imports increased to 176,000 barrels per day from 109,000.

Distillate demand, measured by product supplied, averaged 3.8 million barrels per day in the latest four-week period, down 2.2% from the corresponding period last year.

Demand for diesel and heating oil typically strengthens during the fall as farmers increase fuel consumption for harvesting and colder weather lifts heating demand.

Tightening supplies have already pushed prices higher. The average US retail price for on-highway diesel climbed 19.8 cents from the previous week to $5.652 per gallon as of Aug. 24.

The price was $1.944 higher than a year earlier and approached the record levels from 2022.

The New York Harbor spot price for ultra-low-sulfur diesel also increased to $4.473 per gallon on Aug. 21, up from $4.332 a week earlier, and $2.361 in the same period last year.