US heating oil prices have surged to a record high of about $5.10 per gallon, as escalating supply disruptions intensify concerns in an already tight distillate market. The shutdown of Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline has aggravated existing shipping challenges through key regional straits, heightening worries about crude availability and further constraining refinery feedstock supplies. At the same time, disruptions along Yemen’s Red Sea coast are limiting traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, while Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries are tightening diesel supplies amid Russia’s ongoing export restrictions.
According to EIA data, US distillate inventories were 13% below the five-year average in the week ended September 4, even as refineries ran at 97.8% of capacity, leaving little room to increase production. With seasonal agricultural demand now picking up and the winter heating season approaching, consumption is likely to strengthen further, adding additional pressure to already strained distillate supplies.
