US Refiner Stocks More Than Double as Global Fuel Squeeze Tightens

CommodityEarningsPrice Action Impact 4

โดย Oilprice.com·

Summary · why it matters

Shares of US refiners Phillips 66, Valero Energy, and Marathon Petroleum have more than doubled this year, outperforming ExxonMobil and Chevron, which each gained about 40% in 2026, as the global fuel market tightens far more than crude oil markets. More than 7 million barrels per day of refined product flows are offline in the Middle East and Russia, pushing product cracks to record highs and boosting refining margins. Phillips 66, Marathon Petroleum, and Valero all reported consensus-beating second-quarter earnings and expect high margins through the end of the year and possibly all through next year. Global refinery throughputs hit a summer peak of 81.4 million barrels per day in August, up 960,000 bpd month on month, but that peak was 4.2 million bpd lower than a year ago, with losses spread across the Middle East, Russia, and crude-importing economies in Asia, the International Energy Agency said in its September monthly report. RBN Energy analysts noted that global crude markets are not terribly short of crude, but the world is struggling to refine enough crude into middle distillates, with US distillate stocks in August on track for their lowest end-of-month level since April 2005 and the lowest for the month since 1951.