U.S. Refiners Exporting Record Amounts to Meet Latin American Demand

U.S. refiners exported over 2.5 million barrels of gasoline and distillates (combined) per day last week, the most since 2010. “The high exports are due to the poor refinery operations that we’re seeing in Mexico and Venezuela, creating a demand for record amount of exports off the Gulf Coast,” Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates LLC told Bloomberg. Gasoline and distillates, like diesel, propane, and heating oil, are in higher demand than usual as U.S. competitors in Mexico and the Caribbean have been crippled by maintenance issues recently. Gasoline exports, which have more than doubled since August, have topped 1 million barrels a day three times in the past two months, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.