(Bloomberg) -- The US is the world’s biggest gasoline guzzler and has historically relied on imports to help meet some of that demand. Now, the dependence on foreign supplies is quickly falling as the country’s fuel makers hum along.
The nation is on track to import close to 318,000 barrels a day of gasoline and blending components this month. That would be the lowest in figures going back to January 2017, according to data intelligence firm Kpler. US imports are set to fall for the sixth consecutive month.
Gasoline production is up across the US, with gains even notched along the East Coast, an area that’s historically been chronically short of the fuel. The region just churned out the most gasoline for the time of year in almost 30 years.
The drop in US imports is putting a dent on the profitability of gasoline-making in Europe, the top supplier of the fuel to the New York Harbor hub.
“Eroding export markets across the globe are expected to keep weighing on the European complex,” according to a Kpler report. European flows to the US plunged in October to just above 100,000 barrels a day, a multi-year low and about 9% below the previous record low set in October 2017.
The import declines come after one of the busiest US refinery maintenance seasons in recent years, which helped to ensure that plants got needed repairs and updates. That kept processors in better shape and reduced the risk of unplanned outages. Fuelmakers across the country have tallied up just 333 days of unplanned outages in the third quarter, the least for the period in data going back to 2021, according to data from Wood Mackenzie Ltd. compiled by Bloomberg.
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