Shutterstock Save for later Print Download Share LinkedIn Twitter An overstretched downstream continues to support diesel prices, even as worsening global economic prospects undermine crude and other refined products including jet fuel. Oil consumption normally ebbs during the winter but sky-high natural gas prices could add 1 million barrels per day to already-peak seasonal demand for diesel-type heating fuels this year, according to Energy Intelligence estimates. The surge in buying comes ahead of the EU's February 2023 embargo on Russian products and the scramble to replace around 500,000 b/d of diesel. The import ban is set to clash with peak refinery maintenance in the US making the potential supply crisis even worse. Some respite could come from China which has just issued 15 million tons of product export quotas to the end of this year.
