Those tankers everyone is celebrating aren’t coming here for crude oil.

Those tankers everyone is celebrating aren’t coming here for crude oil.  They’re coming for diesel, jet fuel, and gasoline — refined products — and that distinction is everything.  US distillate inventories dropped another 2.1 million barrels just last week.   They’re already 3% below the five-year average. We are not flush. We are depleted.  Meanwhile US refined product exports hit 6.3 million barrels/day in January — up ~10% from a year ago, near record highs. Diesel led the increase. More going to Europe. Less staying here.

Apr 17, 2026