Are U.S. Gasoline Refiners Running Out Of Steam?

[discocrisco01]

Refiners don't have much room to safely raise capacity usage further, while the summer season with heat waves and hurricanes could suddenly take some capacity off the market, further straining gasoline supply and putting upward pressure on gasoline prices.

A recent drop in international crude oil prices, which saw in June their first monthly drop since November 2021, coupled with lower gasoline demand and growing stocks in the past two weeks, have helped the average U.S. gasoline price ease back to below $5 a gallon, at $4.807.

The trend of high gasoline production is set to continue in the near future as refiners run at full tilt to take advantage of the high refining margins.

Currently, U.S. refiners are producing at or near maximum levels, and they reiterated this in a letter last month in response to President Biden's call to produce more gasoline.

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Are-US-Gasoline-Refiners-Running-Out-Of-Steam.html

[Omnipresent]

1. Drive by a gas station...

The refinery’s are doing just fine, there are no long lines for gas.

[Bettie]

2. There are not shortages

no lines for gas, no signs stating that stations are out.

This is a made-up crisis for no reason other than raising prices even more to gouge customers.

[Itchinjim]

3. Drove by a station that was $4.69 last Thursday.

$4.27 today. Down .42 cents in less than a week.

[House of Roberts]

8. That's been my experience.

$4.279 for Shell. SHELL. Discounts brands are lower. (North Alabama)

[Emile]

4. They are blowing smoke out their asses to cover up Predatory Capitalism.

[Ron Green]

5. On my bike ride yesterday I counted seven vehicles

sitting at the curb or in a parking lot with engines running.

Gasoline must still be too cheap.

[Just A Box Of Rain]

6. People who have an interest in politics really ought to study economics.

[MineralMan]

7. 4th of July Is Over. In the Twin Cities, MN,

the price of gas dropped on the 5th of July.

Supply and demand, my ass. More like "whatever the traffic will bear."

I filled up the KIA Soul yesterday. It gets filled up about once a month, given our driving pattern. With my supermarket loyalty card, I paid under $4 per gallon.

Gas prices are "whatever the traffic will bear."