“There is a real risk that U.S. refineries will be unable to sufficiently bring back capacity in time for the summer driving season. This will force increased reliance on gasoline imports, and higher prices for consumers.”
“We are entering spring with near-record levels of inventory. A recent cold spell notwithstanding, few people now care about surprises in this release, seeing as how total inventories are nearly 70% above average.”
“The possibility of a warmer than expected summer, along with a spike in crude oil prices and a freak heat wave in Texas that led to a surge in demand for natural gas all helped boost natural gas futures prices to well above $8 this week. Prices look to stay there in the near term, despite the record inventories.”
“Since these data are preliminary, it is quite possible that the [Energy Information Administration] data will also show gasoline demand fell in March and April when the revised monthly data are released.”
