Houston, 14 September (Argus) — US jet fuel imports have declined to the lowest weekly number since September 1988, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said today.
A mere 4,000 b/d of jet fuel arrived on the on the US west coast for the week that ended 9 September, after 15,000 b/d was recorded during the previous week. No other US region drew any foreign barrels of jet fuel last week.
On the west coast, arbitrage economics have virtually disappeared in the wake a fire in late July at the 540,000 b/d Mailiao refinery in Taiwan, which is operated by Formosa Petrochemical. That event tightened markets in Asia Pacific. The refiner has now restarted all three 180,000 b/d crude distillation units and is operating at between 70-75pc of capacity.
Jet fuel in northwest Europe has traded at a $1.60/bl premium to the Atlantic coast this week, according to Argus data, making Europe a more attractive destination for Latin American barrels of the fuel.
US jet fuel demand fell by 3.2pc to 1.45mn b/d last week, causing refiners to cut production by 4.1pc to 1.5mn b/d, according to the EIA. Total US jet fuel stocks remained essentially stable at 43.8mn bl last week.
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