US Refinery Utilization Hits 93% as Diesel Futures Reach $3.80 per Gallon
Refining constraints rather than crude scarcity are sustaining elevated diesel prices. Primary records from EIA and IEA confirm the capacity ceiling. Policy focus on upstream output alone will not resolve the bottleneck.
Refinery runs in the US Gulf Coast and Midwest reached 93 percent utilization in August 2026 according to EIA weekly data, leaving minimal spare capacity to increase distillate output. European and Asian outages reduced global middle-distillate supply by an estimated 400,000 barrels per day. Crude production increases in the Permian and OPEC+ quotas therefore do not translate directly into diesel volumes.
EIA: US refinery utilization will exceed 94 percent for two consecutive weeks before November 2026 if no major outages occur.
Sources (2)
- [1]Primary Source(https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/supply/weekly/)
- [2]Supporting Source(https://www.iea.org/reports/oil-market-report-september-2026)