Despite tight supply, US refiners export most gas in three years

While President Biden is fretting about high gasoline prices, even going as far as asking OPEC+ to raise oil output, U.S. refiners are exporting the most gasoline in three years.

Shipments of the fuel in the first eight months of the year rose to 802,000 barrels a day, the highest for the period since 2018, before the pandemic started. At the same time, American drivers are paying the highest prices at the pump since 2014. Overseas demand is only set to increase going forward as Mexico, the top importer of U.S. gasoline, is still in the early stages of recovering from the pandemic.

The high rate of gasoline exports shine a light on the wider global oil demand picture and underscore the limitations the Biden Administration has in keeping retail prices in check. U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the government is “looking at” a release of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. But that would only temporarily resolve the underlying tightness in the crude market, according to oil consultancy Energy Aspects.