Distillate Demand Strong Last Winter
Sources: History: EIA; Projections: Short-Term Energy Outlook, August 2001.
Notes:
Well, distillate fuel demand wasn’t the reason that stocks increased in January 2001 and kept prices from going higher.
As you will hear shortly, natural gas prices spiked last winter and many customers turned towards distillate fuel and residual fuel as substitutes. While weather was much colder than normal along the East Coast December 2000 (and to a lesser extent March 2001), it doesn’t explain the high level of distillate fuel demand in January and February.
So, if it wasn’t demand, was it production that caused inventories to increase in January?