In real terms, monthly average prices have been between the 76th and the 98th percentile for all months since the turn of the century.
Chartbook: U.S. distillate suppliedMANUFACTURING SLOWSMost distillates are used in freight transportation, manufacturing, construction, farming, mining, and in oil and gas production.
Distillate consumption is therefore highly sensitive to changes in the business cycle, especially the manufacturing and freight sectors.
The slowdown in distillate consumption has been close to what would be expected based on the deceleration in manufacturing.
Reduced distillate use would be consistent with an unusual increase in distillate fuel oil inventories reported over the last seven weeks in weekly surveys conducted by the EIA.