A late December deep freeze — even along the Gulf Coast’s refinery row — resulted in reduced petroleum processing. But production quickly came back strong. Earlier today Reuters reported:
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude inventories jumped by 19.0 million barrels last week, the third biggest weekly gain ever and the most since stocks rose by a record 21.6 million barrels in Feb 2021. Last week’s increase came as refiners were slow to restore production after a cold freeze shut operations in late 2022.
There has been particular concern regarding diesel stocks, especially for the mid-Atlantic and New England. But even these inventories have continue to build (see chart below for the mid-Atlantic).
