Energy Information Administration data issued at midday Thursday show U.S. gasoline demand was mired last week in winter doldrums with consumption falling to the lowest reading in at least the last three years.

The agency estimated gasoline products supplied to the market in the week ended Friday averaged just 7.834 million b/d, down 470,000 b/d from the previous week and 252,000 b/d below the comparable week of 2025.

It was also the first time since January 2024 that EIA's weekly implied demand number has been under 8 million b/d and was the lowest reading since the agency put reported consumption at 7.6 million b/d in the week ended Jan. 6, 2023, according to OPIS Context data.

The latest data could be a one-off, given that implied gasoline demand has averaged a little more than 8.2 million b/d over the last four weeks, leaving it down just 0.6% year to year.

With the weak demand reading and U.S. refineries continuing to run at high rates, it was unsurprising that U.S. gasoline stocks rose last week by 6 million bbl to 257 million bbl. U.S. gasoline inventories have increased every week since the first week of November and are now 5% above the five-year average.

Gasoline inventories rose on the East Coast (PADD 1) and the Midwest (PADD 2), with a 4-million-bbl build putting supplies on the East Coast ahead of where they were in the comparable weeks of 2024 and 2025.

U.S. refineries continued operating at near capacity, though utilization rates fell by two percentage points to 93.3% of capacity.

Gross inputs fell by 353,000 b/d to 16.947 million b/d, but remain more than 1 million b/d above where they were in the same weeks of each of the past two years.

EIA estimated finished motor gasoline production last week averaged 8.783 million b/d, down 246,000 b/d from the previous week. The build in stocks came as gasoline exports rose by 114,000 b/d week to week to 973,000 b/d. At the same time, gasoline imports fell 36,000 b/d to an average of 412,000 b/d. EIA data also showed a solid 3.3-million-bbl build in distillate stocks, putting them at 132.6 million bbl. Inventories are above the year-ago level and nearly equal the comparable week of 2024. Still, total holdings remained about 1% below the five-year average.

With forecasts calling for an extended spell of cold temperatures across large portions of the U.S. over the next several weeks, it's likely increased heating and energy demand could send inventories lower.

The agency put PADD 1 distillate stocks last week at 33.8 million bbl, down 1 million bbl year to year and on par with the comparable week of 2024. PADD 2 holdings of 32.2 million bbl are more than 2 million bbl below the corresponding weeks of 2024 and 2025.

Last week's build in distillate supplies came as EIA estimated implied distillate demand for the week at by 571,000 b/d to 3.524 million b/d. Implied demand wasn't only below last-year levels but also weaker than at this time in 2024.

The build in distillate stocks came even as refinery production fell by 209,000 b/d to 5.087 million b/d.

Waterborne distillate movements also weakened as imports slipped by 5,000 b/d to 215,000 b/d. Exports fell by 126,000 b/d to an average of 1.299 million b/d.

Despite the strong refinery activity, U.S. commercial crude inventories rose by 3.6 million bbl to 426 million bbl, leaving them about 2% below the five-year average.

The build came as domestic production remained at near-record levels of 13.732 million b/d, about 255,000 b/d higher than the same time last year.

Commercial crude imports fell by 645,000 b/d last week to 6.447 million b/d. Most of the decline came on the Gulf Coast (PADD 3), where imports tumbled by 625,000 b/d to average 949,000 b/d.

Crude exports also fell by 618,000 b/d to 3.688 million b/d, according to the report.

This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

Reporting by Steven Cronin, scronin@opisnet.com ; Editing by Jeffrey Barber, jbarber@opisnet.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 22, 2026 14:44 ET (19:44 GMT)

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