Two prominent U.S. refineries are currently going offline, and the U.S. Energy Department expects those closings and rising fuel consumption to reduce the nation’s petroleum stockpile by 2026.
In its February Short-Term Energy Outlook, the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasted in a March 3 report that inventories of the three largest types of transportation fuels—motor gasoline, distillate fuel oil, and jet fuel—will soon fall to their lowest levels since 2000.
According to the EIA, the closures will reduce U.S. refining capacity to 17.94 million barrels per day (MMbpd) by the end of next year, the lowest level since June 2022. The nation’s refining capacity has grown over the past two years….