Author: Shariq Khan and Seher Dareen
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. refiners last week pumped out jet fuel at their fastest pace since the pandemic, government data showed, as they look to keep up with forecasts of record air travel this summer.
Data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Thursday showed that U.S. refinery net jet fuel production reached about 1.9 million barrels per day last week, an increase of 8% from the same period last year and the highest weekly production since January 2020.
Government agencies and travel groups are preparing for record numbers of passengers at airports through the summer, pushing aircraft fuel consumption above pre-pandemic peaks for the first time. Motorists group AAA expects 5.74 million people to fly to their destinations around the July 4 holiday, a record high.
Analysis released by JPMorgan Chase on Thursday showed that global jet fuel demand has now exceeded pre-pandemic levels for the first time.
Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed that the four-week average jet fuel demand in the United States last week was 1.75 million barrels per day, the highest level since 2019.
Matias Togni, founder of energy research firm Galpon Shipping & Trading, said increased refinery output should help keep the market well supplied to meet an expected surge in demand during the holidays.
U.S. refiners have added more than 2 million barrels of jet fuel inventories since the start of the year. As of June 14, inventories reached 41.95 million barrels, up 2% from last year and in line with the seasonal average over the past five years.
AAA notes that domestic airfares around the July 4th holiday are 2% lower than last year, although flight tracker Airportia shows total U.S. flights are up 1% from last year.
Airportia tracked 30,264 U.S. flights on Thursday, up 7.2% from the same period last year.
