Recently, industry analysts in the United States stated that they expect the capacity utilization rate of US refineries to reach as high as 94% in the second quarter, in response to the expected increase in summer travel.
US industry analysts have stated that since the second half of 2021, the prices and demand for petroleum products have remained high. Currently, the capacity utilization rate of US refineries has exceeded 90%. It is expected that demand will remain high in the future, and production capacity suspended due to the epidemic will be expanded and restored.
Based on past experience, in the second quarter, as the summer vacation season approaches each year, the production of gasoline and aviation fuel will increase, and this year, the scale of travel in the United States will recover significantly. The American Automobile Association recently predicted that this quarter’s American car travel will be the third largest since 2000. The aviation industry also expects passenger traffic at domestic airports in the United States to reach its highest level since 2005. During the same period last year, the capacity utilization rate of US refineries was 91.3%. The situation in the second quarter of this year will be better than last year.
In addition, the increase in refinery capacity utilization in the United States is also related to lower automotive fuel inventories than the average level of the past five years. According to investment company TPH, gasoline inventory is 7% lower than the average, and distillate oil inventory is 16% lower than the average.